


Just Wait and See

by LadyHatake



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU Black Ops, Big Brother Kakashi, Comfort, Comrades to Friends, Drama, F/M, Female Reader, Friendship, Gai is such Husband Material, Headstrong Reader, Hurt, Jounin Reader, Learning to Accept Affection, Missions, Reader Insert, Romance, Slow Burn, Sweetness, Teamwork, Wooing, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13895523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHatake/pseuds/LadyHatake
Summary: Training vigorously to become an Anbu has been the focus of your career for a while now. You never meant for that little ambition to get out, but now that it has, the question on everyone's mind is...why? You've already got so much going for you, and you've never expressed interest in Anbu before. You're about to find out that having a dream like that -a dream that may not even be yours- may have consequences you're not ready to face.And for the life of you, you can't riddle out why a certain spandex-clad shinobi is always inching his way into your company. He's just...always there, even when he doesn't need to be. Letting people into your life is just as hard as it's ever been...but keeping them out is proving to be even harder.In a nutshell: Kind but deadpan reader struggles to fulfil an ambition of becoming Anbu, meanwhile juggling things like being an active jounin, substitute teacher and young adult. Follow the story as you and a sweet, supportive Gai somehow find yourselves in all sorts of situations, ranging from fun, to dramatic, to life-threatening.





	1. Of Brown Pugs and Brisk Mornings

**Author's Note:**

> I have high hopes for this story. It will likely be posted on Deviant Art as well. I am open to interesting ideas given by readers, however this story is not at all what I expected it to be, and the summary as well as the plot-line is subject to change. If you're not used to my style, you'll get used to it pretty fast. I consider myself to be a decent writer, but I do have my quirks. 
> 
> Gai is such husband material. I love him. There needs to be more Gai x Readers out there. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Drop a line if you'd like to give moral support. I'd really love that!

You panted, arms, back and abdominal muscles burning. Sweating, with your heart pounding, you lifted yourself until your exposed chest touched the tree branch you were hanging from. 

"Another...four...reps..." You grated out roughly, your arms faltering. 

"You know, you don't have to work yourself so hard." A tired voice commented from further up the tree. You didn't need to glance upwards, and upon hearing the older shinobi, you began pulling yourself up more quickly. Lately, he'd been making it a point to show up at the worst possible moments. 

Like now, when you were soaked in your own sweat and blood from earlier when you had punched the trees bordering Konoha. Punched and kicked until your skin had broken, and you'd been forced to stop or face injury serious enough to not be able to treat yourself. 

You two sat silently in each others' company for a while- the silver-haired nin pretending to read that wretched orange book of his, and you continuing to pull yourself up at a painstaking pace.

"Am I right?" He asked eventually, glancing down with a lazy, onyx eye. "Why don't you take a break, _______? I know for a fact you've been out here for nearly six hours already. You were here when I left with my genin team, and you were still here when we returned. That was over two hours ago." 

"If I'm going to make....Anbu....by next...year...." You replied as best you could, and eventually just held yourself up, chin touching the rough bark. You heaved a breath and glanced up through wet eyelashes. "I need to step it up a notch."

"That didn't exactly answer my question." Was the quick retort. "If you haven't noticed, it's already dark, and I know you probably haven't eaten in a more than a few hours. With how hard you've been working, you could pass out." 

"I'll....eat later." 

"I hear the Shiruken's Edge is having their weekly special at the sushi bar tonight." He bribed casually. "The crowd shouldn't be too unmanageable. Why don't we head out? If we move quickly, maybe you can even catch a shower first."

You had continued doing pull-ups as though he hadn't said anything. You knew the real reason he was trying to get you to go home- but when he was finished talking, you simply glanced up at him, and replied firmly, "Later." 

Kakashi said nothing more after that, but made his displeasure known with a blank stare. 

Suddenly he was above you, and placing a hand on your head. With a poof, you felt a warm and pliable weight on your head, and made a noise of angry protest as a brown pug settled himself in and looked at you upside-down.

"Yo, _______." Pakkun greeted in his usual deep voice, and looked back up to where Kakashi crouched on the branch above you, his extra weight setting your branch ajar, making it that much harder on your muscles. "What's up, Kakashi?" 

"_______ needs a little incentive." Kakashi stood to his full height, making the branch wobble. Pakkun was tiny, and 22 pounds soaking wet, but just the little extra weight made you want to collapse- and he knew it. "If you think your getting anywhere with your current training methods, you're sorely mistaken. You won't be getting messenger ninja rank with those lifts, much less Anbu." 

With a blank look, Kakashi hopped back to his original position, making the damn branch try and shake you off again. Meanwhile, you gritted your teeth against the sharp bite of the tree bark, and you finished your reps as quickly as you could with the extra weight. Pakkun had little trouble staying still and atop your messy nest of hair, and although your silver-haired senpai appeared to be lost in his book, you could feel his steady onyx gaze on your head when you weren't looking. 

He wasn't happy- not by a long shot, if the brown pug currently laying on your head was anything to go by. He'd only done it as a gentle and passive-aggressive way of slighting you. 

But you kept going, without complaint. Even when your hands began to bleed a little, and you started seeing dark spots on the edges of your vision. In six more minutes, you had completed your repetitions- though not without a fair amount of sweat and muscle spasms. 

"Finally..."

The branch had only been around nine feet off the ground, and your legs, though tired as well, took the drop nicely. Your arms however, immediately fell lifelessly but stiffly to your sides and you wanted to scream at the sheer relief and pain. The loss of stress on your muscles was horrible and wonderful- and you settled for quiet choking and gasping instead of crying or fainting. Pakkun's weight had made your neck ache slightly, and you refrained from making any noise other than deep panting. 

"Well?" Kakashi eye-smiled, though you could see he was still tense. You glared at him weakly and settled against the tree, finally flopping to your knees. "You're filthy. How about that shower?" 

The Shiruken's Edge did have a special that night and it was amazing. Kakashi had accompanied you for a brief moment to your house, so you could wash off the sweat and grime. Then he'd actually carried you piggyback for a few blocks after you complained and whined enough times. You knew you were being childish- but being childish, you found, was fun when it was with him. And the sushi had been amazing as always, especially since you were starving by the time you'd got there, and would've eaten anything short of cardboard. 

Even if he thought your dream of being Anbu was silly, and made that opinion clear (though he'd never outright said it), you'd had a great time. That night, you had a long bath after settling down, and got a great rest because you had the next morning off. The whole week turned out surprisingly well- with a few odd notes. 

One of those odd notes being a week and a half later, when you'd just returned from a particularly tense and gory mission. You'd just been doing some deep breathing, light tai chi and other calming exercises under the slowly coloring sky, when...

Knock, knock, knock!

"Hm?" You opened your eyes from where you had been meditating on top of your house. Funny, you hadn't heard anyone approaching. You hadn't been sleeping, but...maybe you were more tired than you thought. 

Leaping off the roof of your house and landing neatly on the slightly overgrown lawn, you made your way across the wrap-around porch and to the front door. Standing there, less than a foot away from the thick wood of your front door, was none other than your elder peer, Maito Gai. 

"Gai?" You asked, momentarily too surprised to attempt a formal greeting. "Uh..good morning." 

"Ah, _______! Sorry, I didn't see you over there!" Gai came a bit closer to you, though thankfully not too close, and smiled a beaming grin. He struck a pose, and you blushed slightly. You'd heard of his eccentricity, but was this guy serious? He was still talking, as though you two were old friends. 

"What a bright and wonderful morning!" He exclaimed conversationally, and you found yourself smiling softly. "Wouldn't you agree? I thought I was the only one out jogging at five in the morning on the weekends!" 

"Um, well, I wasn't jogging...and technically, it's around five forty-five." You looked down at yourself and fought a grimace, as you realized you were still in your outfit from the day before- a pair of torn standard slacks and a very dirty, navy blue sleeveless top. "Anyway...what can I do for you?"

"I am waiting for the owner of this house to answer their door. So far I've yet to hear even a creak from inside." The spandex-clad man surveyed the door, and you smiled to yourself. "I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't home." 

"This is my house." You tried for a bigger smile, and stepped a bit closer, and pondered whether or not to ask him in. With your usual visitors, you really didn't need to invite anyone in- would that be weird? Should you offer him some tea? Milk? Er...an energy drink? 

Instead of any of these, you found yourself asking again, "What can I do for you?" 

"I have an urgent message from the Hokage!" Gai thrusts a scroll out in front of you and nods firmly. "Lord Third authorized me to bring this message to the person who lives at this address." 

"Really?" You accepted the message, and stared at it for a moment. Slightly curious, you wondered why Lord Hokage would send Maito Gai, a jounin and a special one at that, on a message run. "Alright. Thank you." 

"So what are you doing out here, _______?" Gai asked curiously, glancing at the corner you rounded when greeting him. 

"Oh, just some me-" You paused and then scratched lightly at your cheek with a slim and admittedly blood-stained finger. You didn't know why, but somehow you didn't want to tell Gai you'd been meditating...almost like you expected him to scold you for slacking off and not working out. 

"Soooomme?" Gai stretched the word out, encouraging you to go on. You smiled at his silliness. Maybe he wouldn't scold you. Either way, you tried for the most convincing lie you could think of...even if you didn't lie very well.

"Just, ah..." You struggled not to fidget under your outright lie. "Some...mm-meandering! Light but quick meandering through the woods, haha. Keeps me on my toes." 

"Meandering?" Gai blinked, and then smiled brightly, though it was still toned down to maybe a thousand mega-watt than a million. "Well, technically not jogging, but...almost as enjoyable."

Yeah, he completely wasn't lying either. 

"I commend you for your energy, _______!" Gai placed his hands on his hips and nodded enthusiastically in your direction, black hair bouncing a bit and reflecting the light in hues of orange and pink. It really was rather lovely. "And so early in the morning!"

"Well, you know what they say," You smiled- something you seemed to be doing a lot while in his company. "The early bird gets the worm and all that...and thank you for delivering this message, Gai-senpai." 

Were you serious? What were you doing, making small talk? Wouldn't now be a good time to call this little chance meeting off? 

"No problem at all my dear, but just 'Gai' would be acceptable." The older shinobi replied. Jeez, was he always cheerful? "You've left out the 'senpai' before, after all, and I've noticed you don't usually bother with such formalities in the company of many others."

"Sorry." You apologize almost instantly. True, you didn't add the formalities very often- just when you were trying to be particularly polite. Not many people cared about such formalities anymore, save for the older generations (older than Gai's own, apparently). "Just thought, since we don't know each other too well, I shouldn't assume..."

"Well, assume no more." Gai bent down to your height suddenly, and his smile was blinding- definitely kicked up to that million-watt level. 

"Now, I wish I could stay and chat more, but I've still got seven laps around the village to complete before six, and then I'll have my genin team waiting for me. So, I'll see you later, _______!" 

"Bye." You waved a bit, and rocket back on your feet as you watched the man blur away in a streak of orange, black and green. You then took note of the quickly rising sun, and then surveyed the damage done to your body and uniform after such a mission. Turning on your heel, you decided you wouldn't go lie down like you planned, but would instead shower and read your newly-received scroll. 

Well, the morning certainly had been interesting. What an odd man...and how odd of the Hokage to order a message to be delivered specifically to your address, while you could've simply checked your mail later in the day. It must be urgent.


	2. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, already a couple of hits at this hour! Huh. I guess there ain't no rest for the wicked, huh? :D

You sat atop the old wall, to the left of the gates, which were closed now. But they would open soon- in about twenty minutes, the sun would rise, and a few hours after that, the village was expecting a visit from a feudal lord. There would be a small festival held in central Konoha tomorrow afternoon, and the Anbu would be everywhere. 

But you wouldn't be. You had put in a request for a two-week mission in the Land of Wind earlier that day, and tomorrow you would leave at exactly five in the morning. Until then, you were on light gate-duty, along with two chunin on the ground. 

And, until then, you would nurse your wounds- with a little medical ninjustu, and a lot of sake. Ah, sweet, unfiltered rigori...and it came in such a pretty bottle as well. 

Well...you _had_ been nursing your wounds in peace. 

"I realize I shouldn't be drinking on the job." You blew air out of your mouth and shook several strands of hair out of your grimy face. "But...my shift ends in twenty minutes anyway." 

You wanted to add that you weren't even drunk yet– and anyway, any Leaf Jounin worth their salt should be able to fight decently even while under the influence. But you didn't feel like much of a Jounin right now- or much of a shinobi, for that matter. 

"You shouldn't be out here alone." A kind voice answered, and you heard someone settle down on the stone wall to sit next to you. 

A curtain of hair kept you from seeing the other person- who would have almost been virtually unrecognizable by the volume of his voice. Usually, the person to whom that voice belonged was loud and boisterous. But you knew that if the wind blew the hair from your face, or if you looked over, you would see a man with perfectly combed, shiny black hair and a green spandex suit. 

"I feel fine." You answered numbly. It was true- you hadn't been able to feel anything since seeing the red mark stamped over your test results. Even after breaking your back and bones for eight months, it hadn't been enough. 

It wasn't that big of a loss. In fact, you hadn't lost much- except your pride. You knew you could try again, it was more than a possibility. In fact, most of your peers and sensei's had urged you to try again, but....what if you failed... _again_??

It was petty...but could you take that? Could you take failure a second time?

"You don't have to lie to me." You winced at the gentle tone, and knocked back another shot-full of sake. The pleasant aroma filled your senses, and you wondered how long it would be until you couldn't feel anything anymore, not even the cold air against your skin. 

"It happens to be the truth." You replied, and smiled as you placed your cup down gently on the wall next to you. Then, you brought your legs under you and stood up in one fluid movement, raising your arms above your head with no real enthusiasm. Gai startled and looked up at you with regarding eyes.

"_______, I think you should sit down." Gai reached up and tugged on your shirt. You wanted to bat his hand away, but even in your slightly inebriated state, you were mindful of your actions. You weren't mad at Gai. You didn't want to seem like you were mad at him, and so instead you breathe a deep sigh and let your arms drop. 

"What a beautiful sunrise." You said, looking at the the first days of dawn beginning to spill over the atmosphere. 

"It is." Gai agreed, and succeeded in tugging you to sit next to him again. You slumped and took in a shaky lungful of spring air, reaching for your sake. "And I think you've had enough of that." 

He reached for your sake cup and took it from you, turning away to place it somewhere else. While he did that, you took the pink, ceramic container itself and took the liberty of drinking straight from the bottle. When Gai turned around he straightened in indignation and you coughed a chuckle before tossing the ceramic flask to the side, hearing it clatter next to you. 

"Gai?" 

"Yes, _______?" The jounin asked gently but eagerly. You felt something inside of you want to crack at the hope in that expression. 

"You don't have to tiptoe over eggshells around me." You chuckled again, and pulled a small and very lady-like oval flask from your jounin vest. Unscrewing the top of the metal flask, you frowned when Gai grabbed that as well and upturned the contents over the other side of the wall. A bit dripped onto your sandal from where it hung over the edge of the wall, and you could feel the wet, freezing path the sake made as it dripped across your toes. 

"And you don't have to drown your sorrows with alcohol." He replied firmly. "Everyone must stumble before success. This isn't as big as you think. I've never been in Anbu myself, but word is that most Black Ops nin train for years to even be considered for the job."

"You don't think-" You cut yourself off and swallowed. You really weren't good with expressing feelings...or gratitude, beyond a simple 'thank you' usually. "That's...kind of you to say. Thank you for trying to comfort me."

"_______-" 

"I mean it." You looked at him in the eye finally, but only for a second, before you looked down to instead glance at the space between you two. 

You and Gai had now spent enough time in each other's company to tentatively call each other friends- and he did care enough to come and try to comfort you. Judging by the disarray of his suit, and the mud marks on his hands, he had also just recently come out of some kind of an ordeal. It was sweet of him to stop by and see you- but the close proximity still gave you a bit of discomfort. You weren't at all used to being so close to anyone, apart from a select few. 

"You've very welcome." Gai faced you from less than two feet away and gave you a thumbs-up along with a blinding smile, which shined bright in the sun's early rays. You smiled softly, tiredly, at him and looked away before he could watch your expression crumble.

"I mean it...I really do." You said again, and took a deep breath.  "I know failure is essential to success and all that. Failing the Anbu admission trials at least two or three times is standard, so I know it's not a big deal. I was bound to trip at the finish line at some point, it's just...why..... _did it have to be this time_?"

Voice getting weaker, ending in barely a whisper, you stopped talking– suddenly realizing what you were doing. Were you really about to spill your guts to someone? Sure, you knew who he was and he knew who you were, but you hardly knew Maito Gai. You'd known _of_ him for most of your life, yet you'd only been in close company with him for little periods across the last several months. 

"You can tell me, _______." There was that quiet tone again that unsettled you and made you want to trust him. That, of course, only made you suspicious and more likely not to trust him. 

After all, who would actually want to help you with stupid, personal problems like this? Especially when the majority of the problem was your hurt pride and hopes. He must have thought you were so petty...he _must have_. Who wouldn't? Even you knew it was stupid. 

But he was still smiling at you.

"I..." You tried again, voice wavering. You hated yourself for it and refused to look at him again. "I just wanted..." Tears involuntarily came to your eyes with force hard enough to hurt. You looked down and ducked your head, only to hide the fact that you wanted to clutch at your eyes. Maybe the alcohol had been a bad idea. You should have waited until you'd got home. "I thought...I..."

Memories of an adorable kid with two intense onyx eyes came to mind. How those big eyes looked at you like you were a burden...how pale arms with old fashioned arm-warmers had carried you to safety. Those cold eyes had gradually turned...warm. Still cool and steady, but with an underlying and moving shadow of protectiveness. Then, there was only one onyx eye- and one eyelid always closed, to hide his gifted sharingan. 

He'd worn a standard Anbu mask, but Kakashi was anything but standard. You'd heard it all the time- prodigies come once in a generation, and only once. It had always been that way. Sometimes, you thought it had been that way since the beginning of shinobi. Going back many years, one particularly famous prodigy had been the great Madara Uchiha, the bane and rival of the First Hokage. Orochimaru, then Minato....Kakashi and Itachi. There were rumors about his brat brother too, the new genin that Kakashi had been assigned to watch out for. 

Itachi had stolen the "prodigy" title from you. He had been the best, from the beginning, and without even trying. Even so, you had always tried– even if you hadn't come from a shinobi family, you had entered the academy at seven years old, and left at nine as a genin. You'd passed the chunin exams at eleven on your first try and become a jounin at fifteen. Those were accomplishments in themselves, and you knew that. 

Now, at twenty-one, you'd tried for Anbu... and had failed miserably. 

Geez, you really were pathetic. Throwing yourself a pity-party. It was so unlike you. Drinking away your nonexistent woes...which was _not_ unlike you, but no less laughable. You were even letting your emotions get the best of you while on duty. Pathetic. 

"I'm kinda like the Jiraiya to Orochimaru." You stated and pulled your hair back in a rubber-band from your pocket. You'd never been fond of letting your hair out of it's ties, but it did have it's perks. Avoiding eye contact, however, was now becoming a mute point. Tears dripped from your eyes to your dirty, slack-covered thighs but you paid them no attention, even as you felt the other jounin's gaze on you. 

"The Gai to Kakashi." You gave a humorless chuckle, being mindful to keep your tone light. Some part of you wanted to pull your knees up to your chest, but you knew that would make you more vulnerable than you could handle. "Lord Fourth didn't really have a rival, although his girlfriend could've gave him a run for his money if she wanted....and then there's me. The only special kid of my generation was Itachi Uchiha. You get what I'm saying?"

"You're forgetting something, _______," Gai crouched on his knees then, and you were forced to look up a bit. "You _are_ special."

You chuckled a bit and wiped your eyes. "Thanks, Gai,"

"I mean it." He stated firmly, mirroring your own sentiment earlier. "I also mean it when I say I know what you're going through. You think I haven't had any failures in my time? You may have said it, but you're still forgetting– I was faced with a genius classmate once as well. I'm talking about Kakashi."

You shifted a little, fidgeting in the face of Gai's passionate words. "That's not what I-" 

"Now that we're both adults and full-fledged shinobi on top of that, we can't always share childish games and contests like we used to. Since those days, we've had our share of real-life trials together, and even now, we strive to better ourselves and advance in life, because neither of us has it in us to give up!"

"I'm not giving up!" You blanched, startled at his words. "Sheesh. I'm a little bummed, sure, but...I will keep trying." You sighed, a bit angry all of a sudden, and looked down at the swaying leaves below once more.

"Then what is it?" Gai implored, and grasped your hand in his, making you flinch. "Tell me, _______. Perhaps I can help. I want to help– it's distressing to see you in such a state."

Your cheeks heated up, and you looked away quickly from where you had been gawking at him in shock. You took your hand gently from his and didn't see the look of slight hurt cross his strong features as you turned away. This time, you did pull your knees up to your chin– you couldn't help it. You tried to keep your expression blank as the sun rose, bleeding more and more color into the skies. 

"...I stand by what I said before." Gai persisted when you didn't reply. "If you don't stumble and slip up before succeeding, it makes victory worthless. But you can never truly be a failure unless you stop trying. Sure, the Anbu exams may not have gone your way this time, _______...but what of it? Are you just going to let that get you all in a rut? It's not healthy. It's not becoming of you!" 

You stared down at the trees below, and pondered your answer. The Anbu exams were held once every two months, but now that you had failed, you would need to wait six months in order to try again. Would you? The exams changed each time, there was no way to tell what you would face next time. It was all very secretive, nothing at all like the chunin exam, or even the intense and unofficial jounin exam.

"I need to think it over." You replied, in a low voice, raspy from the burn of the sake. You gave a small hum of a laugh, before rising to your feet and facing away from the forest, toward the village. "You think Izumo and Kotetsu are on gate-watch this morning? I'd hate to be them, there's going to be one hell of an entourage coming through today." 

Here you were again, dismissing all of Gai's supportive and comforting words, like they were nothing. But they weren't nothing....it's just, you didn't exactly know how to respond. No one had ever given you encouragement like this. Even as a flush rose up your neck to your cheeks in slight embarrassment, you felt like there was something else lifting up as well. The weight in your chest seemed to have lessened. 

"Gai." 

The jounin looked up as though startled. Abruptly, and rather eagerly, he stood up and you found yourself looking at his sandal-clad feet instead of his surprised face. You kept your head down. 

"Yes, _______?"

".....thank you." For everything. 

Then, you were gone, hurtling rapidly through Konoha, towards your house, which wasn't all that far away. You wished you'd had the guts to stay and tell Gai just how much you appreciated his little talks with you. Wished you could tell him that it may seem trivial to anyone else, but it wasn't to you. You could count on one hand the number of people who had ever bothered to help you get past any obstacle in life, and that meant something. 

Right then, you promised that one day you'd find a way to repay him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are so welcome! I do have more written, but will likely wait for at least a few days to a week to repost, depending on hits, kudos', and comments. 
> 
> By the way...I know you can italicizes here, but for some reason the chapter text isn't giving me that option. Maybe it's because I'm on a mobile? Ah, I'll figure it out. It's kinda outputting, because you can't really get the full effect of the story without italicization!!! Gah! (N00b user.)
> 
> **EDIT, problem solved! :D
> 
> Until next time!


	3. Slave Driver

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who left kudos and comments! I may decide to opt out of replying to comments directly in the future but I do read them. I went ahead and fixed some embarrassing mistakes in the last couple chapters.

"I don't know, Team Seven....we're lagging a little. You should have been able to successfully locate my water clone." You sigh, arms crossed as you stand in front of the three genin under your watch. "Furthermore, if you had  
found my ridiculously-easy-to-find clone hiding up in the trees, you could have surmised that it was indeed a water clone, and that may have given you a hint."

"Kakashi never makes us train like this anymore. This is kids stuff."

"That's Kakashi- _SENSEI_ to you, Uchiha-brat!" Sasuke blanched at your clipped correction, and went red in the face. 

"He just means..." Sakura spoke up, trying to defend her crush. "We're not a tracking team, _______-sensei."

"This isn't an exercise to gauge your tracking skills, Miss Haruno! This is an exercise to strengthen your teamwork. This time, your mission requires that you use teamwork in finding and retrieving a hidden item. On actual future missions, I guarantee you'll be asked to retrieve stolen artifacts from enemy ninja, and they may have hidden said contraband in a third location, away from themselves." 

Seeing their varying looks of frustration and cluelessness, you heave a great sigh. This was kids stuff, as the Uchiha had pointed out, and they were treating it like a punishment. 

"If you impress me with the timing, this next exercise will be all for today, and then we'll go out for sushi. Sound fair?" You ask with a big smile, and notice their visible relief. 

"Yeah! You're the greatest, _______-sensei!! I'm gonna find that scroll in no time at all!" The loudest one, the Uzumaki kid with the outrageously orange jumpsuit pumped a fist in the air.

He would've been just as annoying as the other two, if he didn't remind you of someone...and if you had not had suspicions of his tragic past. Irritatingly, you found you had a soft spot for the kid. 

"I hope you do." You smile, and pull a small hourglass with red sand from your side pouch. "But...if none of you find that scroll within the next fifteen minutes, I'm afraid you'll have to walk five laps around Konoha."

"WHAT??!!!" Was the collective shout, and you grinned. 

"On. Your. Hands." 

"B-but that's impossible!" 

"Oh, I disagree, Sakura-chan!" You shook your head lightly, setting the hourglass down beside you as you took a seat on a stump. "Try talking to Maito Gai's genin team, and you'll find that they've had to endure it at least three times in the past year. Ask them how their hands and arms feel afterwards." 

"We're wasting time!" Sasuke shouted, startling his two teammates, who were still gawking at you. Hm? He must've realized you meant business. "That hourglass has been counting down for at least a minute!" 

"Let me give you a small hint." You raise one finger in the air, drawing their attention. "Seriously, the last time we tried this, you all just scattered off and began pulling up weeds like cavemen." Enjoying their enraged sputtering, you smirked. "my clone has now changed form and hidden a small object. This time, try organizing yourselves a bit. You've got the next thirteen and a half minutes to search a fifty-meter radius from this spot."

"How am I supposed to know what fifty meters looks like!!" Naruto pulled at his hair while Sakura looked around worriedly. Meanwhile, you'd assumed a relaxed position, pulled out a nail file and had begun tending to your fingernails, rather dirty after the day's events.

"Dobe! Forget that! I am not walking around the village on my hands! Sakura, take the west half of the area, and make sure to look closely by the stream. Naruto, you take the ground on the east half, and I'll take the trees and treetops. If that doesn't work, we'll meet back in seven minutes to try something else."

"Got it!" Abruptly, and with little more than three splashes of color, the genin were gone. And you were alone...

Mostly.

"Well, they're good at running away." You commented to the green-clad shinobi crouching conspicuously in the bushes with his own genin team. Upon being called out, the man stood to his full height. 

"Good on you, _______!" Gai rushed forward, nearly bowling over the two males on his team. "You really got them on their toes! Though I can't see why they'd think so little of arm-walking, I think it's an excellent discipline! What better way to express the springtime of youth?!"

"That is what you'd think, Gai-sensei." His kunoichi grumbled from her spot behind a tree. "Those guys don't know how lucky they are." 

"Indeed!" Gai gave the girl a thumbs-up. "Both Kakashi-sensei and _______-sensei are excellent instructors! Why, we ourselves could learn a few things from watching them." 

"Gai-sensei, shouldn't we-" A pale-eyed boy spoke up, but was quickly interrupted.

"Neji, Lee, Tenten!" The jounin yelled suddenly, and you were amused to see that none of the genin neither jumped, nor had any change in expression. "If these students haven't found their scroll in the next six and a half minutes, I want you to assist them, to the best of your abilities."

"What?!" The girl whined.

"Yes Sir!" The one who looked just like Gai (you still didn't know how to feel about that exactly) agreed loudly and stood anxiously, watching Kakashi's team like a hawk. 

"...." The brunet with the Hyuuga eyes stood stoically, but from his slightly squinted eyes, you could tell he wasn't happy. 

Chuckling at that expression, you stood up and made your way over to the trio of genin. Standing in front of the Hyuuga, you placed one hand on your hip, and then placed the other on his brunet head. 

"What's eating at you, Hyuuga?" 

"What?" The boy recoiled at the contact, and then looked up at you in barely hidden distaste. Quite a bit taller than him, you nearly had to bend your head forward to look at him. 

"Having a bad day?"

"Not particularly." His eye twitched a bit, and his face pinched. You very nearly had to restrain yourself from cooing and cheek-pinching...he really was too cute. All the Hyuuga clan were elegant and attractive by nature, and this kid was no exception. He was going to be a knock-out, one day.

"_______." You looked over to Gai, where he was looking at you with an intense, yet very pleased expression. "It would be my pleasure to introduce my team."

"Oh, forgive me." You laughed a little awkwardly and stepped back, noticing Neji visibly relax and stop squirming now that you had stepped away. "I didn't realize...I mean, I've heard so much about you three."

"_______, this is the team of genin under my charge." He gestured to each of the kids as he introduced them. "Lee, Tenten, and Neji. Team Gai, please say hello to my comrade and friend, _______."

"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, _______-sensei! I am Rock Lee, Konoha's most handsome devil and number one genin!" The one who looked like Gai gave you a low bow, and you couldn't help the smile that tugged at your lips. How sweet. 

"Hi, Miss _______-sensei," the girl with the twin buns waved to you with an awkward smile. 

Neji said nothing and kept his blank expression, but nodded to you. He had that Hyuuga sternness to him as well. 

"What a unique team you have, Gai." You smiled, and meant what you said. To your left, you could see Gai with his arms crossed, looking very satisfied, nodding with a slightly triumphant expression. 

"I'm glad your all acquainted. Odds are, we won't be seeing much of each other on missions, but good relations are always top priority among comrades." Gai nodded again and you gave a nod as well, turning to assess how your own trio of genin was doing with their mission. 

"It looks like we'll be arm-walking, huh guys?" You asked threateningly, and you could hear Naruto's exclamation of protest. From the west trees, you could hear Sakura's growl of anger. 

"No fair, _______-sensei!! We've already looked everywhere!"

"Life isn't fair, my dear. Try using that brain of yours." You deadpanned to Sakura. All at once, your team met up at the stump you'd been sitting on. You smirked. 

"Find anything?" You ask.

"Just a bunch of nothing!" Naruto griped, then looked to his pink-haired teammate questioningly. "Sakura?"

"Don't look at me! There was nothing but trash in the stream." She sniffed haughtily. "And I got my sandals wet..."

"There's nothing in any of the trees, and I didn't see anything on the ground when I was searching either." Sasuke scowled, then eyed Gai's team with malice. 

The other jounin scrambled for a moment, and then pointed at his own team with an expression that managed to look both stern and friendly. 

"Remember what I said! We shall not leave our comrades to fend for themselves! Team Gai, bring _______-sensei the scroll in the next four minutes! No- three minutes, or we'll do the five laps around the Leaf with them! I'm confident you can achieve this!"

"I will do it in two minutes!" Lee took off in a blur along with his two teammates and you waited patiently, sitting down on the same stump as before and casting occasional glances over at Gai. Each glance only found him standing a few meters away and staring at the treetops, never looking in your direction.

You had to admit, he'd trained his genin well. Maybe a little too well...they did more than jump at his request, but pounced without preamble.

Exactly forty seconds after Gai had commanded his team to retrieve the scroll, one Neji Hyuuga dropped down from the treetops into the small clearing and presented a small, neatly tied scroll. 

"How did you-" Sasuke trailed off, and then glared at the Hyuuga boy, who stared back emotionlessly. Well...if one could manage to look emotionless and superior at the same time, that is. 

"My byakugan," Neji responded simply. "Can see the chakra flow in all things. There was a noticeably large amount of chakra radiating from where this scroll was hidden up in the trees, under a genjutsu. Even a newly-made genin such as yourself should have been able to see the ripples of chakra without a byakugan."

Sasuke huffed in annoyance and took half a step forward, only to be held back by your hand on his shoulder. He looked up at you spitefully while his other two teammates stood watching the situation with looks of equal hope and annoyance on their faces. 

"Neji was exactly right." You sigh. "What have Iruka and Kakashi been teaching you? It's exactly as he said, the area around the leaves should have been distorted, especially since I combined a layer of physical ninjutsu over the genjutsu to make it more obvious. Remember what I told you about my water clone? It was a hint." 

"The water droplets..." Sasuke muttered, gazing up at the trees with a glare. The afternoon sun made the grass and leaves sparkle with drops resembling morning dew.

"From the stream earlier!" Sakura exclaimed, remembering your sparring session with the kids about a half-hour prior, when you four had been training by the thicker part of the stream. 

"That's why you did that weird move with the water!" Naruto finished in realization. "You weren't really trying to show off by showing us how far you could send the water flying, you were just spreading out the water to cast your weird jutsu!" 

"It's not that weird." You smile, and shrug. "Ninja use combined techniques all the time to throw an opponent off. Used correctly, a combined jutsu like that one can be very useful and stealthy...but in this case, I tried to make it overly obvious. Guess it didn't work too well." 

"What an inspiring training method!" Gai exclaimed.

"Hah...and I thought I was bad at being subtle." You smile weakly, looking over at Kakashi's team. 

"So...." You say teasingly, threateningly to the children. "What do I do with you now? You didn't find the scroll, but I did see some real, hair-pulling internal effort at the end. You could almost see smoke coming out of your ears."

You heard Tenten chuckle briefly and realized Team Gai and their sensei were still behind you and watching. You looked at your senpai and smiled pleasantly. 

"I'll let you decide, Gai-senpai. I'm not their real sensei after all, and you have seniority in this situation." 

"What?!" Naruto yelled, looking at you with betrayal. "______-sensei, your a slave-driver, but your like the coolest teacher ever! Yeah, we failed, but if you give us over to Bushier Brow-sensei, he'll make us do a thousand laps around Konoha on just our fingertips!!"

"While that's an interesting idea, young Naruto," Gai looked at the orange-clad boy, a strong smile on his face. "I do believe disciplinary action is in order here."

Oh boy, you were really hoping he'd say something else. You'd hoped he would go easy on them. When you'd asked him, it was half because you didn't want to be the one to give them a break and seem like a pushover...

"Hard work in itself is it's own reward." Gai went on and placed his fists on his hips, unaware of your internal dilemma. "Although I insist we each do five normal laps around the Leaf, after that we can go out for dinner, my treat. Wherever is the most popular vote." 

"I guess that's fair..." Naruto grumbled, and you placed a hand on his unruly locks, giving him a quick but affectionate pet. You had to hand it to the kids- despite their irritating moments, they really were cute. Gai's team too...you were becoming so soft-hearted.

"Lighten up, kid." You smiled encouragingly at him, and winking at the other two, letting them know silently that you weren't really put out with them. "What's five laps for a shinobi of Konoha? It could've turned out worse."

"Yeah, _______-sensei's right." Sakura sighed, and pushed her hair back over her shoulder, from where it had gone askew. Sasuke remained silent.

"This will give you all an opportunity to get to know Gai's team better." You added, along with, "I'm sure you'll all be seeing each other again some time in the future." 

Yeah, probably with kunai to each other's throats, if they were all going to take the upcoming chunin exam together. 

After that, introductions began all over again. As you watched the children size each other up and greet each other wearily, you couldn't help but snicker internally and wonder what little future relationships may become of this little meeting. 

Sasuke and Neji- gifted prodigies from equally gifted families, each with a chip on their shoulder the size of Japan. Naruto and Rock Lee- the slightly less gifted underdogs who never give up, despite all the odds stacked against them. Sakura and Tenten- kunoichi alike from nondescript backgrounds, neither alpha nor omega material but trying to find a place in their team. 

At least Kakashi would have a story to come back to, when he returned from his mission. Despite the cold shoulders between Neji and Sasuke, and the boisterous outbursts from Lee and Naruto, the evening spent at a barbecue restaurant turned out surprisingly...interesting. Nice, even.

Especially since Gai had thoroughly insisted on paying for Team Seven's food, as well as yours. You had somewhat expected him to make that offer. For all his chivalrous ways, he just seemed like the type. But you had no intentions of going into debt with anyone, save Kakashi, who you "let" pay for you meals semi-regularly. Truth being told, you had tried to refuse his help a couple of times, but the silver-haired ninja almost always paid for your outings by quick and unnoticeable means...like you had just done.

"Wow, _______-sensei, thank you!" Tenten beamed at you.

"Absolutely! Thank you so much, _______-sensei, for the delicious meal!" Lee gave you a bow from his seat, and Neji muttered a small thank-you as well.

"Miss _______! How could you?" Gai beseeched you, holding his fists in front of his chest as you struggled not to smile

Call you freakin' generous or whatever...but you'd gone ahead and paid the bills for Gai and his team's meals as well- something said jounin was not happy about. Sigh. It's not like it'd put a dent in your finances, but you would need to visit the bank tomorrow. You hated using money-cards, they were unreliable at best.

"It was my pleasure." You gave a small but sincere smile. "I don't know what the big deal is."

"It was supposed to be my treat!" Gai sulked loudly. "And then you go ahead and take the liberty of paying for my team's share as well? I should've been the one to pay for that fancy coconut cream pie, Miss __-"

"Oh, Gai," You gave a tired chuckle, as you carefully shoved a spoonful of the delectable sweet in his complaining mouth. You looked away. "It was nice of you to offer, but there's really nothing to feel bad about, I wanted to pay."

You thought about stopping by the public baths later- your wounds from your last mission (simple scratches) had healed nicely, and you were due for another out-of-country mission tomorrow. All had been peaceful in the village lately, and for the most part, you had enjoyed your downtime over the last few days. 

Little did you know, things in Konoha were about to get a little more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> NEXT TIME: The Strange Visitors


	4. The Strange Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As you return home from a mission, you notice something strange in the coming storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad there are fans who seem to enjoy Gai like I do. :D

Your sandals sloshed through yet another spot of soft mud and you grimaced with distaste, feeling the cold, wet earth squish between your toes. You knew you'd have to stop soon and clean your feet and sandals in a pond or puddle soon, or leave yourself at risk if you were attacked suddenly. It was slippery, and really, really annoying. 

The village wasn't that much further, maybe a thirty minute walk due east. You and your teammates had just been in Grass country, on a B-rank mission to follow and apprehend a suspected village spy. As it turned out, he was a lower level _nukenin_ (defected ninja) from some nondescript village, and he had been on his way to relay sensitive Konoha details to a larger crime ring. 

Said nukenin was now draped over your shoulder, and your two teammates staggered along beside you. The aspiring medic jounin, a young Inuzuka clan member, was the worst off of the group. His arms had been burned by his metal armor when he'd been caught by surprise by a fire-based jutsu, and his left calf had been pierced through with several senbon. The other chunin, hailing from a civilian family, had taken care of the offense effectively, and had taken out most of the enemy nin by himself. He was exceptional, but that didn't stop him from becoming reckless and twisting his knee at the very end of the fight.

"So...." The Inuzuka boy murmured eventually, as he limped along. He'd healed the other chunin's knee as well as his own leg a bit, just enough to allow them to walk. The rest of his chakra had been expended, for the most part. "You think I'll wash out, sensei?" 

"I don't think so at all, Nagare." You looked back at him and smiled encouragingly. "You did very well, all things considered. Even the best of us get surprise attacked."

"I hate to be the first one to say it," your teammate from the nondescript civilian family spoke up and halted in his steps, taking a deep breath. "But I'm not sure I'll make it to the village if we don't take a break soon." 

"Agreed," you nodded, feeling sympathetic toward the chunin. Running or even walking for distances on a bad leg was harsh- and both chunin had leg injuries. "Let's rest here."

"Normally, I would agree." The Inuzuka scowled, but he dutifully helped the other chunin to sit on a fallen tree. "But we shouldn't rest for too long. It smells like there's a bad storm rolling in."

"Hm." You couldn't smell it, or even see it, but you trusted his judgement. "Ten minutes, and then we'll head out. Take a rest, Nagare. In any case, we're close to home now." 

"What a relief." 

Dropping the enemy spy carelessly to the ground, you looked up at the sky and felt a sudden rush of static run through the air. Wow, you could feel the lightning gathering before the storm had even moved in. But the skies were clear...how strange. Besides the odd tension in the air, you felt...watched, almost. It was quite the eerie feeling- you knew no one was there. 

Well. At least you hoped so. Enemy ninja so close to home? It was late in the day, surely if a team of enemy shinobi had been in hiding, someone from the Leaf would have discovered them already. 

After more like fifteen minutes had passed, you and the others set off for the village, and you once again hefted the enemy nin over your shoulder. You were burning to investigate the strange feeling you'd gotten earlier. It was after you'd taken the spy to the interrogation unit, and saw both of your charges back to Hokage tower that you took off at top speed toward the village gates. 

You paused just outside the gates and gazed down the dirt road framed by tall strong trees wonderingly. It would be getting dark in a couple of hours, and the storm was nearly upon the village.

"Hello there! What a pleasant surprise!" 

You smiled slightly at the booming greeting from above. "Good evening, Gai-sensei." 

"I thought we had long agreed to drop the honorifics, Miss _______." The jounin sounded slightly miffed as he dropped down next to you with his team. "I thought we were closer than that."

"How is your training going, Team Gai?" You asked the three genin, seeing from the corner of your eye how Gai face-planted into the ground at your blatant dismissal of his words. 

"Training is going splendidly, _______-sensei! Thank you for asking!" Rock Lee shouted, causing you to wince as he was rather close to your ear. Nonetheless, the brash and energetic kid was too cute to be angry with. 

"Yeah, splendid is one word for it..." Tenten grumbled, looking completely exhausted. Neji simply stood stoically, neither ignoring nor acknowledging you apart from his initial lavender-eyed gaze in your direction. 

"We were just returning from a youthful and vigorous training session in the western forest!" Lee piped up once again. "Next time, I insist that you join us, _______-sensei! Team Kakashi doesn't appear to appreciate your youthful instruction! I assure you, Team Gai will appreciate your skills to the fullest!" 

"Right you are, Lee!" Gai snapped up, now recovered from earlier. "I'm sure it'll take some convincing, but we'll adopt _______-sensei into our circle one way or another!" 

"That sounds great, guys." You gave them a sheepish, slightly uncomfortable, twitchy smile. "But it'll have to be next time. I'm kind of in the middle of something, and I can see you guys are on your way back in, so-"

"Wait, _______!" Gai reached out to you, seeing you lean away in order to take off down the well-trodden road. "Where-"

"Next time!" You called over your shoulder before you leapt away, into the trees at top speed. Honestly, you didn't need to take off that quickly, but for some reason, the idea of being alone with Gai yet again made you....queasy. 

It was almost like you were being...shy. Which made no sense. You'd always been slightly withdrawn, moderately antisocial, but you'd never been shy. Especially around your fellow Leaf ninja. It was only Gai, after all. 

Shaking your head, you rid yourself of the troubling thoughts and focused on scanning the area around you. What was it that you had felt earlier? Was it truly just the storm approaching? There was...nothing. Nothing at all to speak of, everything seemed normal. There were no chakra spikes, nor any chakra signatures. You weren't a sensory type, but you did have fairly impeccable hearing, and other than the gentle swish of leaves-

Oh. 

"Gai-senpai, I thought I said I'd see you later." You reminded the ninja patiently, though you couldn't repress a small smile, internally pleased that he had opted to follow you. "You should be with your team." 

"My team is dismissed for the day." Gai responded, surprisingly at a normal volume. "And it's quickly becoming a habit for us to cross paths when you're in some sort of turmoil." 

"How do you know I wasn't out for a walk?" You asked innocently, glancing over your shoulder from where you crouched at the base of a tree.

"Taking off at that speed? No, it's obvious you were trying to evade me, so I thought to follow you, Miss ______." Though his words were a bit questionable, his smile was all sweetness. "So what are you doing out here? And how may I assist you?" 

"I wasn't trying to evade you, only trying to make it out and back as soon as possible." You rolled your eyes lightly. "Anyway....there's nothing to see. I thought I felt something out here earlier but it must have been my imagination."

"If you say you felt something, that must mean that there was something out here to be felt." As you puzzled over that statement, Gai looked around, hands on his hips, and then added, "Always trust your gut, _______."

That made you pause, and you again looked around your general vicinity. You saw nothing, felt nothing, heard nothing save the storm rolling in. The clouds above your heads were dark grey, and the wind was picking up, bringing with it the scent of fresh earth and intense ozone. 

"How about this?" Gai spoke up, interrupting your concentration- not that you'd been accomplishing anything. "I run to the west, you to the east, and we meet up around the Hokage Monument to exchange our findings in fifteen minutes. Then, if we haven't found anything, we continue on until we've both searched completely around the village, and meet up again at the main gate. Sound fair?" 

"You don't need to do this with me, Gai." You said with a chuckle. "It's just a feeling of mine, not part of your job description." 

"My dear, as a fellow shinobi of the Leaf, it is my sworn obligation and privilege to ensure the safety of the village and all its residents." The spandex-flaunting ninja gave you a thumbs-up and a blinding smile, which managed to shine even without direct sunlight. 

"And as a friend," Gai added softly, coming forward to lightly grab a piece of your hair that had come loose from its bindings. He held the lock gently between two fingers, before bringing it up to delicately tuck it behind your ear. "It's my personal obligation and my privilege to ensure that you never face danger alone." 

At his quiet words, you felt something too warm well up in your chest. The feeling spread, tingling and sinking to your very fingertips. It was a strange feeling, like being grounded and taking flight all at once. It rushed up to your face, turning your cheeks pink and stealing the breath from your lips. 

Abruptly, you stepped back and turned to the side slightly- not completely away, but enough to give you a bit of breathing room. You lifted a hand in an involuntary gesture, one finger pointed to lightly rub at your cheekbone, and cursed yourself because you knew he could see the color no doubt filling your cheeks. 

"Uh....yeah." Your face flamed at such a lame response, which was all you could manage at the moment. "If you insist...that's reasonable." You couldn't remember feeling at such a loss for words around this man since the day he'd dropped off that scroll from the Hokage at your front door.

If you had turned and looked him in the eye, you would have seen the soft look that crossed his normally passionate face. A slight blush had also overcome his strong cheekbones as he gazed at you, wondering if you were aware of how much you had changed in those mere moments when he'd felt your soft hair between his fingertips. 

Usually, you wore a hard or stern look (or at the very least apathetic) with a straight posture, always ready to jump to action. Looking at you now, Gai realized that he'd only ever seen this side of you a handful of times. Seeing you scratch your cheek with a confused, sulky expression on your face, he was reminded of how very young you were. 

On your part, you couldn't for the life of you figure out why someone like Maito Gai would take such an interest in someone like you. That is, if this interest was at all unusual for him. Admittedly, he was nice to almost everyone, and his personality varied very little in terms of friendliness and fiery passion...but for you to happen across him so many times? So many of those times were unwarranted, and...just now. He had actually followed you into the woods on a suspicion that you might need him? It wasn't as though you'd asked him along. 

Maybe you were coming on too strongly? 

Granted, you'd never pursued anyone for friendship before. You're small handful of casual friendships just sort of...happened. Had you at all appeared particularly desperate or damsel-in-distress-like while around him? Well, you supposed you might have looked a bit needy, just a little when you'd been drinking yourself into a stupor after your failed Anbu exams (which you were still quite a bit sore about). Still, all of those times, he had come to you, not the other way around. 

Didn't that mean that you definitely needed to step up your appearance? Did you constantly appear in need of help? What was it? 

But you'd feel bad to suddenly begin avoiding the man, he'd been nothing but nice to you after all...and he was almost constantly reminding you of your growing friendship, so shouldn't that mean that you should be putting forth more of an effort to spend time with him? Ugh, you didn't know. 

"Why am I so bad at this?" You grumbled, massaging your temples. 

"Hm?"

"Ah...nothing." You looked over at the object of your confusions with a grimace. It was supposed to have been a smile, but you found yourself too troubled at that moment to even produce a fake one. "So. I'll meet you around the back, okay?" 

"Alright!" Gai gave you a quick thumbs-up before you both headed your separate ways. "We're off!!" 

The two of you leapt apart and began your trek around the village.

At first, everything outside the wall seemed normal. The old and worn paths around the village wall looked as they always did and though the air was tense with the coming storm, all seemed to be well. The birds still chirped, and the sky was still blue in some places....so why did it feel so ominous?

"Hm?" You stopped suddenly, sure that you'd seen movement to your left. Just a slight change in your peripheral vision, but it had seemed too unnatural somehow, to be part of the forest. Moving quickly, you grabbed a kunai from the holster at your hip and assumed a light battle stance. Yet, by the time you'd come to a stop and turned, everything seemed normal again. 

Sure that you'd seen something, you listened intensely for any kind of disturbance in the underbrush around you. 

_One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...ni-_

Darting up the path and to the left, towards the stone wall, you landed with a light swish of grass next to an old wooden bench. 

The birds had stopped chirping, and the first raindrops of the storm had begun to fall. You still had a pretty good range of hearing despite the pattering of droplets on the leaves around you, and you could hear a distinct grinding, creaking sound. Almost like old clay pots rubbing against each other. 

"Are you from the Leaf?" You asked audibly enough to be heard for several meters. You wondered how many individuals were hidden around you, and tensed. "If so, reveal yourself now, or be subject to my tracking methods." 

_Whoosh!_

You ducked just as something sailed overhead, and met a second attack with the deadly tip of a kunai. You were surprised to see your knife meet not someone else's sword or ninja tool- but what appeared to be a terracotta spider. Coughing as red dust exploded from the broken object, you jumped back and raised your arm to block any incoming attacks.

Just in time, too. As soon as you rose your arm, something red and vaguely kunai-shaped shattered against the slim metal plates of your armor with a delicate _'clink'_. A second object came sailing towards you, bigger and shaped to resemble a spear. You had planned to catch the spear, maybe to keep or maybe to throw back, when it cracked and expanded into a dozen deadly shards, and you were forced to leap out of the way or get skewered. 

You'd say that's when your bad luck, or maybe bad judgement began. 

Turns out, you had leapt right into a cluster of mossy, slippery boulders hidden in the deep grass, and felt the wind get knocked out of you as you struggled to avoid incoming clay shards. You landed roughly on your rear a moment later as you were done flailing and soundly smacked your head against something hard. 

"Ngh!" You couldn't help but grunt quietly as the pain of the impact and the warm trickle of blood began leaping down your neck. 

You coughed a bit, cursing yourself as you began to feel light in a way that wasn't natural. Seeing something slink into the ground a few meters away, you clutched a kunai in one hand and threw another few with paperbombs attached. 

"So. You prefer earth-style, huh?" You asked, and clung to a tree with one sandal flat against the bark, your other knee and toes also secured with chakra. Hearing a distinct grating noise, you looked to the left, then to your right and quickly formed the seals needed to create a hollow mud pillar. Your jutsu rose just in time to prevent a barrage of more sharp clay weapons from spearing you through. You felt the strain on your mud shelter from the force of the objects, and grimaced. 

You knew better than to underestimate Maito Gai, but knew also that you wanted none of your comrades near anything you could handle yourself. What kind of shinobi would you be if you couldn't finish this off quickly? The attacks were fast and sharp, sure, but they were also vaguely childish and random. The thing is, your head was beginning to swim, and the wound in the back of your head was still bleeding. 

Surveying the area through a few little holes in the mud armor, you released the jutsu and formed the seals necessary for a lightning-based attack, planning to electrocute the ground until whatever was underneath came out. That was when you caught sight of something huge coming towards you— and balked in disgust. Maybe even a bit of fright as well. Whatever that was, it was clearly meant to look human, but had big, gaping teeth with an ear-to-ear grin, and-

A thin, spidery lightning jutsu wouldn't do for this. So you changed the last few seals at the last possible moment. 

"Lightning Style: Meteor Impact!" You completely dropped the defensive mud pillar, steeled yourself and shot away from the tree. In the next moment, you rushed towards the clay beast with chakra-thrumming nerves and two fists surrounded by meteor-like lightning chakra. 

One of which slammed solidly into the chest of your huge opponent, and the creature went down immediately, collapsing in on itself and falling to the ground. Your second fist came down directly on the earth, the force of your concentrated chakra shaking the ground. Whatever was left of the creature (or puppets) surprisingly thick body fell away and exploded in every direction, the pieces gauging scratch marks into several trees and lodging themselves into the bark. 

Then, you were left surveying the area, and listening for any other noises over the sound of your own heart beating.

"Well, that happened." You heard a deadpan voice from off to the left, near the wall and turned breathlessly to look over the curve of the rough crater you'd just created. 

Kakashi was crouched near the wall, a scant few meters away, and you could see the waves of electricity still crackle over the leaves in the surrounding trees. The wetness of the ground and foliage helped it along, and you noticed that Kakashi wasn't just crouching, but clinging lowly to a tree with his sandals and one gloved hand. He must've been balanced on a dry spot. 

"Kakashi." You panted, attempting to stand, and instead falling into the mud, stabbing yourself painfully on the left over shards of the clay enemy. "I think-"

In an instant, he was at your side.

"What's wrong?" He asked, voice a bit tense, and you realized when you opened your eyes that you had been drifting off. You were also held upright in his arms now. "So you did take a hit. I thought your chakra was a little out of control, but-"

"Just...the back of my head. Hit a tree." You winced, and held a hand up to the back of your head, where pain throbbed strongly and hotly. Your hand was quickly pulled away however, and you felt yourself being lifted into strong arms, leaned against a cool and soothing flak vest. 

"_______!" An alarmed voice called from a distance away, and even with your sickly tilting vision and warped hearing you knew it could only be one other person. There was only one other person out here. You smiled softly with the memory of his gentle words. 

"That's Gai. Why is he out here?" Kakashi wondered out loud, and you could only hum, knowing you should probably stay awake but unable to even form proper thoughts anymore, let alone weave them into sentences and then speak them. Or, so you thought. 

"Kakashi." You spoke one last time before settling into unconsciousness, knowing now that you were going to be fine. The village would be on high alert, everything...would be...fine. "Terracotta...huge....earth...style...dangerous..." 

.  
.

"Gai-senpai, come on. Get up now." You chuckled awkwardly, silently burning with the desire to smack the smirk off Kakashi's hidden face. Gai was knelt at your feet as you say on a fluffy hospital chair while your headache settled down. 

"Miss _______, I feel terrible!" Gai mourned clasped his hands together, looking at you with big, teary eyes. "If only I'd gone the other way when we searched the boarder, this wouldn't have happened-"

"I've had a lot worse, trust me." You rubbed at the back of your neck sheepishly, wincing and forcing a grin when Kakashi's eye flicked to you and Gai's fade tensed. "We weren't really talking back then, but a couple of years ago, I was actually knocked into a month-long coma by a rogue Iwa nin. And just last month, my-"

"I don't think your helping." Kakashi droned, eyeing Gai. To your dismay, the man looked even more distressed than before. 

"Point is, I'm alright...kay?" You forced a smile, not used to being lavished with such concern, not even from Kakashi at the worst of times. "I'll be up and at it by tomorrow-" 

"I'm not so sure about that, _______."

"I completely agree." Gai shook his head, forgoing the tears and instead replacing them with a look determination, standing to his full height. "Normally I would commend your youthful spirit, and I do believe you'll make a quick recovery. However, I still insist that you get at least a week's worth of bedrest, as suggested by your primary physician!" 

"I can't go a whole week cooped up in my house!" You balked, shaking you head and wincing at the slight pain the action brought. 

"Not to worry my dear! A friend such as I would never let you recover alone." 

"Gai, there's no need for that, really. Any...of that. I'll see to it. A few days at home won't kill her, she'll just be a little antsy." 

"Kashi, he's just trying to be nice." An annoyed tick appeared over the copy nin's visible temple at the semi-public use of your nickname for him. 

"I'm only trying to provide for her the utmost comfort, my rival! Don't you see the girl needs an extended period of bedrest?! Even the Sannin need to sleep at night!"

"But really, I don't think reclining this seat any more is necessary...I just have a minor concussion, I'm not on my death bed or anything!" You protested as the older shinobi lowered the back of your chair a little more. 

"I don't think either of you know where this is headed." Kakashi sighed and leaned back against the wall, pulling another one of Jiraiya's smutty novels from his vest pocket and turning it to a random page. "But that department is entirely under your jurisdiction, _______."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this chapter, except that I had SUCH a freakin' hard time writing it. I had half of it written pretty much since he last update, but struggled so much to complete it. The 'fight' scene really challenged me, since I'm not really good at fight scenes, especially when the attacks are partially from an unknown or unseen opponent. I even wrote most of the next chapter before this one! :o 
> 
> I LOVED and HATED writing the scene when he takes the reader's hair between his fingers. Squeeee!!! Any thoughts?
> 
> I'm still thinking about editing the ending to this chapter, so tell me what you think! I think it's pretty cheesy lol but it was all I could come up with after so many attempts at a descent ending. (I did edit a bit more, just to try and bring Gai more into character. I tried.)
> 
> Do comment! It keeps me going. 
> 
> NEXT TIME: An Old Flame


	5. An Old Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date and an easy mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the sweethearts that commented! Mwah! I love this chapter, and I hope you do as well. Enjoy.

You glanced up and out the open window to the beautiful, sunny day outside, sipping at your only slightly spiked juice and flipping yet another page in your magazine. 

You were waiting patiently for your food to arrive — the restaurant was rather backed up — and waiting even more patiently for your dinner guest to rejoin you at the booth. He had come in late not long ago, and had then been forced to see to some commotion outside the restaurant involving his genin charges. 

No, it wasn't Kakashi, for once. Tall, silver and secretly handsome was on a two-week mission with his own exhausting but cute team of genin. 

Eyeing the small plate of sushi that had been brought with your drink, you dipped a decadent piece daintily in soy sauce and brought it to your lips, humming in satisfaction even as a bit of the dark liquid dripped down your bottom lip. 

"My, it's not every day I see you in such casual apparel, _______!" Smiling a bit you turned to see Maito Gai standing just beyond the opposite booth seat, grinning brightly in your direction. As it was indeed your day to relax, you gave him a warm smile and waved a bit, dabbing at your lips with a napkin. 

"Hello Gai-senpai." You greeted and nodded in his direction, wondering if he'd opt to approach you or continue on his way with the two other jounin who'd passed the table. "It's been a while." 

It had been. Usually, you two seen a lot of each other even if you didn't stop to chat at length. Lately however, the shinobi of the village had been ordered to be extra careful when entering and exiting the village. 

This was all due to your little incident around a month an a half ago in which a terracotta creature/puppet had attacked you in the forest. Since then, extensive examinations of the gate as well as the village wall had been conducted in order to find the source of the terracotta visitor. Or visitors. The fact that it had managed to invade the Leaf's borders without triggering any of the security jutsu set in place was particularly troubling. The systems were previously thought to have been infallible, so it was a pretty big deal for a while, and still was with the Hokage. 

After a brief recovery period, you'd taken on many solo missions to make up for it, and had put in extra hours at the academy to fill-in for a librarian on maternity leave. In your spare time between obligations, you'd mostly been hitting your private training areas to try and get back on track your preparation for the Anbu exams. 

So, yes, it had been a while since the last time you'd properly said hello to any of your fellow Leaf nin, save Kakashi and Iruka. 

"Gai, let her be, it's her first day off in over a month." The deep reverberating voice of Sarutobi Asuma came from behind you, and you felt a hand on your left shoulder— which felt oddly exposed without your flak vest. Looking up, you saw Asuma give you a cheeky grin. "Though you do clean up nicely, _______." 

"Spare me. I prefer comfort over style." You chuckled pleasantly at his teasing. 

Dressed simply in a slightly baggy white shirt and standard gray cotton shorts with your usual sandals, you did feel quite relaxed. Your drink was helping that along as well. With all the commotion and buzz in the villiage lately, you hadn't had the opprotunity to enjoy a proper meal in a long time.

Now if only your dinner guest would happen along. Insufferable genin, fresh out of the academy...always getting into trouble. 

Huffing internally, you waved as Kurenai made an appearance. She waved back with a pretty smile and soon guided Asuma to a table a bit further into the restaurant, leaving Gai to take a seat across from you. 

"Wonderful weather, isn't it?" 

"Hm?" You blinked and then hummed in amusement as you looked out the window to your right. Your booth was flush against the wall, and just outside you could see a small bridge over a stream, a few benches and some foliage. 

The other side of the restaurant let out into the streets, but on the side you were on, the nearest doors opened up into a small square. It was the closest to privacy, in your opinion, since no one really frequented the area when it was so hot outside. 

"Yeah." You agreed lowly, softly. "The sun sure is being generous with the heat today." You fanned yourself with your menu and looked across the booth. "So what beings you here, Gai-senpai? I would've thought you'd be out and about until dusk on a day like this."

"Sometimes it's nice to get out with friends." He responded, then added thoughtfully, "Since Kakashi is out of the villiage, I jumped at the chance to tag along with a few of the others on their night out."

"Sounds like a good time." You mused, and smiled a bit. "If Kakashi were in the villiage, I'd have probably dragged him out as well."

"Would you like to join us?" Gai asked almost hesitantly. "Since we're mostly back on a no-honorifics basis, of course." His thumbs up and wink was incredibly refreshing after having not seen him in so long. It had nearly been a month and a half since you'd last seen the jounin, in the forest when you'd run into the strange, animated clay figures. 

"But it's only appropriate to call you Gai-sensei isn't it?" You hummed, enjoying the light breeze blowing through the window. "Especially around the young ones." 

"I'm referring to the 'senpai' you seem to like tacking on so much." The jounin huffed a bit, appearing to pout and you smiled, hearing him mumble something like, "I don't mind the 'sensei' so much, but still..."

"'Senpai' is a title of respect, is it not?" You asked lightly when he trailed off, and smiled a bit brighter when you saw your date for the night approaching from the far side of the restaurant. "I didn't think I used it enough to bother you."

You wondered if he'd at all caught onto the fact that you had to force yourself to 'tack on' the honorifics when not in the company of children. You could've just called him by his name, as you did with many others, but...

Sometimes it was fun to see how long you can pull something off. 

"In any case!" Gai interrupted your musings, standing up from the booth and blinding you once more with his enthusiastic grin. "Seeing as we're both conveniently dining at the same restaurant, what do you say about migrating to our table for the time being? I realize it won't have quite the same view, but a lady such as yourself shouldn't dine alone on her day off!"

"I couldn't agree more." A posh voice spoke up from just behind Gai and the older nin nearly jumped out of his skin. You waved in greeting and sniggered at both the look on Gai's face and the humor in the situation. 

The newly arrived jounin habitually pushed up his glasses and gave you what you knew to be a sincere smile, dark spectacles flashing in the evening sunlight. Ebisu bent neatly at the waist and placed a kiss on the back of your hand, holding it lightly as he scooted past Gai and into the seat across from you. 

No one would ever take the place of your fondness for spending time with Kakashi, but Ebisu's company was something vastly different. It was...predictable but interesting at the same time. You could enjoy in-depth talks with the usually strict and uptight shinobi, and afford to ask him questions you, frankly, were too afraid or respectful to ask the silver-haired ninja. It wasn't that you couldn't ask Kakashi about certain things if you wanted, and if you did, you knew he'd probably answer you...but you also knew how he valued his privacy to an intense degree. He had a lot of past trauma, and you didn't want to bring that up in any way. As long as you lived, Kakashi would be one person you refused to hurt. 

 It was different in the case of Ebisu-senpai. Since the two of you had met around five years ago, you'd been able to have conversations about everything from botany, to battle strategy, to the loveliest shade of color in each other's eyes. Yes, you and Ebisu had dated, briefly. If you considered two years on and off to be brief. 

Thinking of all this, as well as the last time you'd been on a 'date' like this with the older shinobi, you'd flushed just slightly when he had kissed your hand. He continued to hold it across the table, lacing your fingers between his own and looking quite pleased with himself, seeming to ignore Gai's presence entirely. 

Before you could speak up to excuse Gai and give him a chance to flee the probably awkward situation, Ebisu spoke up. 

"I apologize deeply for the interruption, _______." The elite jounin pushed up his glasses. "Konohamaru is being particularly out of control this week. As it is, I merely convinced him to take the ruckus somewhere else for a couple of hours while I returned to you."

"I was beginning to think you'd never come back." You chuckled, and pulled your hand from his pleasantly squeezing fingers to take a drink. "Ebisu." 

A drink you nearly spat out when you saw how far Gai's jaw had dropped and how blue his face had suddenly become. 

"Are you okay?!" You asked urgently, not having seen this expression on the special jounin's face before. You reached up worriedly from your seat and shook his arm gently, not aware that five other shinobi from a table halfway across the room were watching the scene like hawks. "Gai-senpai?"

"You...you..." He mumbled incoherently, and then shook his head at an alarming rate, much like a dog, and when he stopped his face had gone back to it's normal shade. He'd also picked his jaw up off the floor and replaced his— whatever expression he'd had, with one of indignation and barely concealed...fury? 

"You...you address HIM without honorifics, Miss _______?!" Gai asked heatedly, then leaned over the table and slammed his hands out in front of him, rattling the dinnerware and your drink. 

Blinking in surprise, you gazed up at his infuriated face, now a gentle shade of red underneath his tanned complexion and then looked to Ebisu with curious eyes. 

You were even more confused to see Ebisu responding with equal distaste, and what appeared to be exasperation, even though Gai had barely said ten words since the other man arrived. Shoving the broader man a bit, Ebisu stood as Gai stumbled back. 

"Gai, I don't know why you're here and I don't really care at the moment." Ebisu began in a tightly controlled voice. "But I insist you leave _______ and I to our dinner! This is the first time I've seen her in months, and I don't intend to waste the opportunity arguing with you!" 

"Ebisu-"

"Well you're not the only one!" Gai asserted over you, face scrunching up and eyeing Ebisu like he was a filthy piece of gum stuck under his sandal. "Why are you here in the first place?! Shouldn't you be off acting superior to some genin or reporting the elderly for jaywalking?" 

"I _beg_ your pardon?!" 

"Okay guys..." You spoke up, and thought it best to stand as well, and try and get in the middle. The way this conversation was going, and knowing both of their personalities well, it was only a matter of time until the chest-poking, one-upping and overall commotion began. 

"That's already enough of that." A deeper voice could be heard before Gai was taken around the neck by a strong arm. Asuma's perplexed face could then be seen as Gai's head was tucked just under his own and the Sarutobi clan member eyed you curiously. Then he looked over at the black-clad nin and nodded slightly. 

"Ebisu." Asuma greeted, and then smiled at you with more warmth. "_______. Sorry about all of this. I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Honorable son." Ebisu bowed lightly and you could see his expression slowly settle into something akin to normal. "I apologize." 

"It wasn't at all your fault." Asuma gave another nod and a pleasant smile before adding, "Enjoy your meal," and dragging Gai off to their table where several of the shinobi gathered were snickering. Some of them had pitying expressions as well, though you were a bit confused as to why. Nothing particularly embarrassing had happened. 

As they made their way across the restaurant, you swore you hear Gai's strangled voice saying something along the lines of, " _It's just not...fair! What's he...doing that I'm_......?!"

"You think he's...okay?" You asked, concerned as you sat back down and gazed up at Ebisu. "What was that all about?" 

"Who ever knows, with that fool?" Ebisu sat back down in his seat as well, a tick on his temple as his eyebrow twitched in irritation. "I can never catch a break."

"Gai isn't that bad," You felt the need to defend him (you knew instinctually that Gai would certainly defend you in this kind of situation) though you knew well that Ebisu probably had no real malicious thoughts towards the other man. Gai had been one of Ebisu's teammates, after all, along with Genma. You didn't spend that long with someone and not get to know them- the good qualities and the bad. 

"You think so?" Ebisu took a deep breath and tried to wind down, taking his pair of chop sticks and taking a piece of sushi from the little square plate. 

"Yeah. Actually, Gai is....." You trailed off and took another piece of sushi from your own mini-plate. The third and final piece. You dipped it in soy sauce once more and sipped at your drink as you internally on what to say. 

How did you describe someone like Gai? "He's a friend. A good friend." 

"I guess...he's alright." Ebisu's mouth curled in irritation. Grinning slightly, unable to help yourself, you took one of his sushi pieces in between your own chopsticks and leaned across the table. 

"Yeah, he is." You smiled and closed one eye cheekily, smiling a bit teasingly as you grabbed his slender chin between your fingers. "Now let's enjoy today, okay?"

Your dinner date simply obliged and tried to relax, allowing you to feed him another piece as you quietly admired his aesthetic. 

It wasn't romantic, really. It wasn't awkward. It was a bit flirtatious, but mostly it was just...the two of you. It wasn't as though you had any particularly strong attraction to the man after so many years of knowing him, but it was nice every once in a while to accept some (mostly platonic) affection, and to give some as well. 

Except...

"They could stand to be a bit more discreet." Ebisu commented lowly. Then, as you shifted in your seat, asked, "Is it a bit uncomfortable, _______?" 

Since leaning forward, you had been trying to move a bit to the right, to be at least slightly obscured from the sight of the other jounin across the room. Though if you truly wanted to be out of sight, it could only be done by scooting over all the way and making it obvious. 

"Just a little." You gave a little huff-like laugh. "I don't particularly enjoy being stared at while I'm eating...especially when they make it so obvious that they're watching our every move."

"Hm." Ebisu turned his head slightly to look behind him out of the corner of his eye. Immediately the both of you could see the tiniest bit of movement from your fellow shinobi. Indeed, at least half of them had been watching your booth. 

"Juvenile." Your darkly dressed companion growled lowly and then stood up, offering you a hand. You glanced up at him questioningly and again caught sight of the table across the room, as well as a couple of civilians at nearby tables turn to glance at you two curiosity. "A bit warm in here, isn't it, m'lady?" 

"Yeah, it's a little warm." You agreed and chuckled, standing up with your hand in his and then taking his offered arm, wondering what he was going to propose next.

"How about we take this outside?" Ebisu's glasses flashed mischievously and you tilted your head a bit in confusion. 

"Won't it only be warmer outside?" 

"Not after I have a little talk with maintenance." The taller shinobi smirked, and led you over to the front desk, across the restaurant. "Would you mind taking care of the changes in our seating? We'll be out in the square, where we can sit with no interruptions. And they can stare all they want."

Mere moments later, you walked into the square, and immediately felt the summer heat bear down on your skin where it was exposed. It wasn't as bad as you expected though, and the breeze was a bit stronger out here, just enough to be refreshing instead of bothersome. It would have been perfect, if the slight burning of the intensely shining sun wasn't hitting you directly.

"There we are, miss. Sorry for the wait." You turned just as a waiter brought forth a huge tray of food, while Ebisu returned just after him with a rather large umbrella. The waiter spread the food across the stone table you'd chosen, and Ebisu set to work attaching the umbrella to its corresponding fixture on the table. 

The umbrella was made of thick but silvery lace, which automatically reminded you of a certain someone and brought a smile to your face. The umbrella was also big enough to provide adequate shade for the both of you. The lace allowed enough light to brighten the table, but gave enough coverage so the sun wasn't burning against your skin anymore. 

"How is this?" Ebisu finished securing the umbrella and giving you a rare grin. 

"Great." You flashed a big smile of your own at the now glowing shinobi, and leaned forward onto the scalding surface of the stone table. You placed your chin on your knuckles, feeling eyes on you still but no longer seeing them. Glancing over at the restaurants entrance briefly, you found your thoughts wandering to another shinobi. 

"Perfect." 

.  
.

"A lantern?" You asked blankly, staring at the mission sheet in front of you. "The Lord has requested a Leaf shinobi to retrieve for him...an old lantern?" 

"It must be some kind of family relic." Kotetsu shrugged, arms dangling out to his sides as he leaned back in his chair- far more than appropriate or safe. "Actually, the original report was lost, so we had to track down one of the Lord's assistants to resubmit the statement of need. Just got back a few days ago."

"But if it's so simple," You sighed, scratching your head a bit at the less-than-adequate amount of information on the scroll. "Then why is it a B-rank? Retrieving a lost lantern from a forest should have been a mission assigned to a genin."

"It's probably an heirloom, or an antique worth a lot of cash." Kotetsu shrugged again, leaning his head back until he was facing the large windows just behind him. Your eye twitched at your former classmate's unprofessional behavior. "Who knows why it's worth so much? Maybe it's a typo. Either way, the Lord will have to pay what's on the paper."

"Thanks, you've been really helpful Kotetsu-chan." You tossed your last mission report at him and turned on your heel, listening in satisfaction as the scroll caught the man by surprise, making him tumble over. 

"Hey, don't go calling anyone '-chan' _______!" 

Shaking off the budding annoyance of the day already, you prepared to head out of the Leaf. The section of forest the lantern had been lost in supposedly wasn't very far. A day and a half's journey, if you pushed it a little. You packed light, and soon you were off, waving at those on gate duty as you jogged out of the village. It was still early, maybe seven in the morning. 

Normally you weren't such a morning person, but you'd gotten in only an hour and a half before from a joint mission with Inuzuka Hana and a new jounin from the Akimichi clan. Kakashi was going to have a weekend off soon, and you wanted at least one of your R&R days to be correspondent with his. So you were trying to get a bit more missions completed before then to make up for the couple of days you would lose. It had been ages since you'd properly settled down and had a day just to spend with the jounin. 

As you steadily left the village gates behind you, you picked up speed and wondered why the report said you'd need to light the lantern in order to move it. 'Proceed with utmost caution' the scroll had quoted. 

You wondered what that could have meant.

.  
.

"You didn't think to mention this earlier?" The third Hokage rubbed his temple, closing his eyes so as not to glare at the shrinking chunin. "My boy, carelessness is how people get killed."

"My apologies, Lord Hokage!" The chunin bowed so low he was bent right in half, spine ramrod straight. "I don't know what happened, sir! The scroll had somehow gotten lost in the civilian mail!" 

"This could have been catastrophic, had that scroll contained vital information about the Leaf or our allies." Lord Third lowered his hat habitually as he tried to process the mistake one of his shinobi had made. "As it is, if _______ pursues and sets that lantern alight, it will give chase and stop only once it consumes the entire forest. Or..._______ herself." 

"So..." The young shinobi gulped and began flailing his arms, spiky but normally tamed hair now frazzled. "What do we do, my lord?! This is all my fault! Please, let me set out after her and correct my mistake!" 

"Someone will have to be sent out after her for sure...." Lord Third shook his head. "But even if we sent someone now, they wouldn't reach her in time, she's already been gone several hours....there's no way...." 

Passing a tanned and aged hand over his crystal ball, the Third Hokage of the Leaf Village searched the town, looking over his people as though looking for ideas. 

"A messenger bird? No, we don't know what route she took...the Inuzuka ninken wouldn't be quick enough without exhausting most of their chakra, and objectively, this isn't exactly a vital matter...hmm....are there any teams already out of the village?" 

Through his crystal ball, he spied several of your acquaintances. Only a couple were away from the village and none were close enough for a messenger bird, nor headed in the right direction. 

Busy chunin, returning genin, more genin chasing after cats....it was no good.

"Hmmm..." The Hokage continued to scry, actively searching for a select few he knew would chase after you, given the situation you were in. How was this all going to work out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such fun writing this chapter! I actually had some of this written quite (quite!) a while ago, so I don't remember if a brief and jealous Gai was hard to write, but I thought it was a cute idea. I really loved this chapter, and tried to get everything to flow nicely. 
> 
> I beg for your comments! Do gently point out mistakes. Hope everyone's having a good summer, and if you're not, I hope it gets better. :) 
> 
> NEXT TIME: Run! The Demon Lantern


	6. The Demon Lantern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your mission to recover a lost lantern for a lord doesn't go exactly as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter since I don't know how to half-ass stories, apparently. Even reader inserts. May be a little slow at first. I can only hope that my writing continues to amuse the readers. Any comments, stray thoughts and such are very appreciated and inspire me to write more. :)

"Why would someone need a jounin to return their lantern?" You mumbled to yourself, soaring past yet another cluster of rocks. "I don't know. What I do know is... it's really annoying." 

At this point, you'd been around the general area at least a few times, trying to find the damn thing, and so far you hadn't seen a trace of any lantern. You'd circled at least a mile and a half, slowly closing in because in your opinion, this was a leisure mission and you didn't want to miss anything. 

Now that it was around two hours into your search and you'd yet to find anything, you were regretting not getting a more urgent start on things. 

"Hello?" Someone called up to you and you glanced downward, slamming into a branch with your sandals and abruptly halting your above-ground sprint. Just below you, stood on the forest floor were what appeared to be a couple of civilian travelers. 

"Hi." You waved a bit after you'd jumped down, and got a couple of smiles in return. 

"My, we don't get very many ninja in these parts." An older man spoke from just behind his traveling companion, a man maybe your age or a bit younger. 

"It's a quiet spot." You shrugged and offered a smile to the men, maybe to settle their nerves. They both looked tense. "Can I help you gentlemen?" 

"We're just passing through." The younger man nodded your way, blatantly getting a good look at your Leaf headband. "Looking for a messenger that was supposed to be headed our way a few days ago. Must've gotten lost. Have you seen anyone out here, miss?" 

"I haven't seen anyone since I arrived." You shook your head, in turn glancing at their meager belongings and wondering just how far they'd come to meet their messenger. "That was around two hours ago. But if I do come across the messenger, I'll be sure to send them your way." 

You soon bid them goodbye and moved on, curious as to how anyone could get lost in these forests. In that way, it was nothing like the Hidden Leaf's forest. There were beaten trails everywhere you looked, plants with features foreign to you, and... 

There were some footprints in the tall grass, well off the trails. If they could even be called footprints...they were very square, and, well...very _large_. More like the depressions of something that had been dragged, but there were no drag marks, just some bent grass. The trees around the depressions were scratched, scuffed and generally disturbed. 

Following the odd trail led you to a little clearing in the underbrush, and there you paused, eyebrows shooting to your hairline. 

"Holy...kami." 

.  
.

"Don't worry _______!" Gai shouted as though you could hear him over the considerable distance between the two of you. "You'll not be consumed by a demon lantern today! I guarantee you that!" 

A trail of dust kicked up from the shinobi's own sandals as he booked it in the direction of the Land of Menma, where you'd been sent for your mission. 

.  
.

You sneezed unexpectedly, and then looked back up at the stone object in distaste. Well...at least now you could sort of see why a jounin had been requested for the mission. Sort of. 

"Well, there's no mistaking it. That's a lantern for ya." Your head tilted to the side as you swayed a bit with the mind-boggling sight before you. "It's just...really huge." 

The lantern stood as tall as your bedroom door, and twice as wide. Granted, it wasn't...massive. Just huge in terms of (freakin'!) lanterns. It was also solid marble. How the hell were you going to haul it back to the lord's estate? Were you even equipped for that? A sealing scroll would be needed, obviously, if you wanted to avoid expending your chakra carrying it. 

Only you'd neglected to take a large-quantity sealing scroll with you. There was no info in the mission scroll that suggested you'd need to seal anything away or heft anything large. You had a small one with a few weapons, and a blank one for a quick message. 

"Damn you!" You scowled at the lantern and shook your head. Damn that Kotetsu as well. The lazy oaf probably lost the original mission scroll himself due to...laziness! Given the size of this lantern, it couldn't be just any ordinary object. Perhaps it was a ritualistic lantern? You were sure you'd read about lanterns like this somewhere...you just couldn't put your finger on the memory. Plus...it had appeared to walk, hadn't it? Did the resubmitted mission scroll say you had to light this thing to make it move?

To hell with that. It would be roaring hotly in your face and attracting bugs and travellers alike on your way out. You were going to find a decent scroll, any scroll, and use some chakra-compatible ink to seal it away until you reached the lord's residence. 

With this new plan in mind, you set off to find a different scroll. Despite having taken your time searching for the lantern, you had plenty of time before sunset, and there was no rush. It had been a six-day mission (on account of traveling time) but you might just have it done in four. Fine by you...there was something oddly ominous about that stone lantern. 

It was half way to the town you'd ran past earlier that you felt someone approaching. A chakra source in the distance...no, three of them, heading towards you quickly. Dropping to the ground, you glanced at the grass below you, and then to a group of boulders off the path a little ways.

They were about seventy meters away now...

_Fifty..._

_Twenty._

"_______-sensei." 

Opening your eyes, you were met with the pale clothing and the even paler, fathomless eyes of Hyuuga Neji. At his side was the mini-version of Gai, Rock Lee, and on Neji's other side was the team's kunoichi, Tenten. Said girl squeaked at the action of your eyes opening and the stone dust around them falling away.

"Wow, _______-sensei!" 

"That's so weird, _______-sensei!" Tenten expressed in a tone that sounded disturbed and scolding at the same time, and you chuckled briefly as you let your jutsu fall away. Where previously, only the thin layer of earth surrounding your eyes had broken, now the rest of it cracked, chipped and fell to the forest floor.

"Color me impressed." You smiled softly at the Hyuuga boy, the praise earning no response. " I was actually dimming my chakra signature. Such is the power of the byakugan, I suppose."

"Yeah, he seen you from sixty meters away. Neji's a genius." Tenten spoke up from beside him, gazing over at him in not-so-subtle adoration and you internally winced. Please, don't let this girl have a Sakura-complex. Also...incidentally, Neji did remind you a bit of Sasuke. It wasn't the first time you'd made comparisons between the two teams. 

"Mm. There have been others like him." You nodded thoughtfully. Uchiha Itachi was now coming to mind, as well as Kakashi. "Or...all of you, I should suppose. Genius comes in many forms, Tenten. All of you would do well to remember that."

The girl blushed a little, Neji remained unmoved and you glanced over to Rock Lee, who you could tell had been affected by his teammates praise more than the Hyuuga had. "You seem quiet, Lee." 

"Oh, me? I am fine, sensei!" Lee flashed you a smile that can probably could've been seen glinting at the gates of Konoha. "All is well now that we've found you in safe condition, _______-sensei! We can now continue on the mission with ease!" 

"The mission?" You blinked, and looked at the tree of them questioningly. "In safe condition? What are you on about? And come to mention it, why are you three even here?" 

"The lantern, sensei." Neji spoke once more, serious in tone and expression. "The lantern you were sent to retrieve is actually a demonic object that becomes temporarily animate once it's been lit."

Temporarily animate? 

"It will then be stopped only when it consumes the one who set its wick on fire. Or, until it runs out of fuel." 

Your eyes narrowed and a grimace marred your mouth as you placed one hand on your hip thoughtfully. This wasn't particularly troubling, since you, in fact, hadn't lit the lantern, but...this was a pretty big piece of information to leave out of a mission request. Had a genin or even a new chunin been given the mission, this could have ended in disaster. 

"Those fools." You muttered, half angrily and half exasperated. 

"What was that, sensei?"

"Nothing." You answered the girls question and shook your head a bit, relaxing and flashing a brief grin. "All is well. It's just that...it's a good thing you guys showed up when you did. Otherwise I might have lit it. Then what situation would I have been in?" 

Chuckling, you gestured for the others to follow you and hopped up into the trees again, heading towards the old town. After a few meters, you stopped, with the kids at your heels and wondered if you shouldn't just send one of them to get the special ink while you guarded the lantern. 

"What is it _______-sensei?"

"I was just thinking." You tapped the toes of your sandal lightly against the trunk of the tree branch you stood on— a habit you usually never indulged in. "If one or even all of you could run to the little town in that direction," a jab directly ahead, "it would be greatly helpful. You see, these woods are apparently full of travelers. Just because I didn't light the lantern, doesn't mean-" 

"AAAAGHHH!!" 

A low but resounding scream broke through the thick foliage around you. Straightening at the distant cry, you looked back and grimaced, realizing at once what had happened. 

"If you three could gather a plain large scroll form the village ahead," You droned darkly, eyeing the direction the faint scream had come from. "—that would do me wonders. It would save me from having to do it myself." 

"But sensei-" 

You were already gone, flitting through the trees like the devil was on your tail, and hoping that none of the kids would follow. These woods weren't usually populated, but— that old man and the younger one...dammit! 

"Stand back!" You yelled as you came within range of the little clearing in the forest. As expected, it was a disaster area— trees snapped in half, boulders split down the middle, shattered. And the two men, running for their lives. 

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!!" You formed the seals and dropped down behind the men, your mud wall hardening just as the newly animated lantern crashed into it. Cracked, but not yet pummeled to the ground, the wall held. 

"Can you run?" You asked the young man, who in turn, nodded with a pale face. "Then run!" 

You slung the older man as carefully as you could around your shoulders and sprinted ahead, hearing the mud wall begin to crumble as the lantern rammed into it; the path was the only space big enough for the lantern to make it through without clearing the trees. A breath or so later, you'd set he old man down and turned to get the younger one—

"My son!" The old man yelled between panting breaths, and you sucked in a gasp once you seen what had happened; the lantern had caught up to the boy, and the flames within burned brighter than ever. 

The man screamed as the lantern neared, loudly and heavily. You launched yourself towards him to try and knock him to safety. At the same time, however, you saw a flash of dark green and shiny black streak across your vision. 

"Leaf Hurricane!" 

"Lee?!" You exclaimed, worried for the boy but needing to get the civilian to safety. You also wanted to yell at him to get out of there, but were pleasantly surprised once you saw the probably two or three-ton lantern go flying back down the path. Propelled by the genin's powerful kick, it flew, tumbling over itself and sending fiery coals and ash everywhere.

"Sensei!" Tenten yelled, landing next to you on the branch with the two men. "I have a spare sealing scroll! Just tell me what you need!" 

"Time. Just a few moments of time." You responded, reaching forward just as Lee stood to his full height form his kick. "Lee! Be careful! If you hold still long enough, it'll burn you!" 

"Do not worry about me, sensei! Take all the time you need!" Lee gave you a thumbs-up and a big smile. His confidence settled your nerves just a little, and you turned back to the young girl next to you. 

"Lee, Neji! Try not to damage the lantern, if you could!!" You turned to the kunoichi. "The scroll, please?" Pulling out a paintbrush and sealed jar of ink form your vest, you bent down and began to write as Tenten rolled out the scroll as evenly as she could on the tree bark. "I just need to make a few minor adjustments to the usual seal...to make it strong enough to hold a minor demon." 

"Lee! Watch out!" Neji's voice carried through the forest as the lantern shot a volley of fire balls from its hearth, one of which nearly catching on Lee's shoulder. Distracted for a moment, you watched the boys jump and evade the lantern's advances— the lantern that was surprisingly nimble for its size, and easily kept up with them, setting the surrounding trees ablaze. 

_What was that last character for the seal?_ You scowled in anger and worry at the still-wet symbols on the scroll. Were you freezing up? You'd never forgotten anything dire before-

"You two! Push it back!" You yelled, grabbing the scroll and jumping down from the treetops to the ground. "Any way you can, just push it down the path! Tenten, come here!" 

"Right!" 

You stared at the scroll once more, hesitating before writing the last symbol that would complete the seal. 

"What is it, sensei?" 

"Just stand there." You motioned for her to stand in the path, knowing instinctually that both of you in the same spot would cause it to come running. The knowledge of this particular haunted object coming back to you. You called to the boys a moment later to get out of the lantern's way. 

"Let it come!" You yelled, backing up a few paces, enough to clear you of the sealing area. The lantern bounded towards the two of you, kicking up dirt and leaving glowing embers behind. Once it neared, you yelled at Tenten to get out of the way and brought your hands together in the Tiger seal. 

The letters and symbols on the scroll began to glow a bright blue, and you could hear the civilians in the tree above gasp as the glow overcame the lantern just as it neared the sealing jutsu. 

"Dynamic Entry!" You gasped in surprise and quiet indignation as Konoha's Green Beast sailed overhead and strongly kicked the lantern– out of the way, over the path, and clean out of the forest into the air. And then—

Promptly got himself sucked into the glowing seal. 

Exclaiming in fright and frustration, afraid of what might happen to a human sealed into the scroll, you formed the basic one-handed seal and screamed, "Release!"

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten and Lee shouted, angrily and happily respectively as the shinobi appeared in a poof of white smoke. 

"Gai-sensei." Neji sighed tiredly, looking towards the lantern shooting through the darkening sky like an orange bottle-rocket. 

"Gai-sensei..." You growled and raised a fist in the air heatedly, glaring at the back of his head as he sat up, disoriented from being rapidly sealed and unsealed inside a scroll. The fist went nowhere however, and a tick appeared on your forehead as you stood, listening as the lantern crashed some odd hundred meters away. 

"Did it work?" Gai shook his head and looked around at everyone. 

"Oh it worked, alright." You growled and ripped the scroll from its place at Gai's feet- only to discover it had been torn, the symbols still wet and slightly smudged. 

"Did I...interrupt something?" 

Your eye twitched and you finished ripping up the scroll before throwing it into one of the nearby fires. Well...things could only get more interesting from here, right? 

.  
.  
.

"Nice job fashioning a heavy-duty demon container out of a log, _______-sensei!" Lee enthused from the back of the group, just behind the two civilians. "Truly the definition of quick thinking under pressure!" 

"It's not like the lantern was a real threat." You shrugged, eyeing your senpai next to you, carrying the thick log enscribed and painted with double the amount of normal sealing symbols. "But thanks, Lee. I'm sure any of us could've just destroyed it, but then the mission would've been a failure. I really do have all of you to thank...for the assistance with the lantern, and keeping our civilian friends here safe."

"And we can't thank you enough!" The younger man bowed deeply. Both of the men's minor burns had been treated and bandaged, and the older of which was now resting semi-comfortably on a cloth stretcher between you and Tenten. 

"I apologize again, for the um...inconvenience, _______." Gai spoke sheepishly, giving you a hesitant grin from just next to you while Tenten huffed. "I just...get a little excitable, you see. Sometimes." 

"Really? I hadn't noticed." 

"I hadn't seen the scroll. I thought it was going to pummel you!" 

"Such little faith in me, still, senpai?" You asked tiredly, under your breath as though you didn't mean it to be heard. But it was, naturally. 

"Not at all, _______!" Gai faced you while walking, and you smiled to reassure him that you weren't actually put out. 

After all, you couldn't blame him if he actually did think that...what with how poorly you'd been performing lately. Aside from becoming distracted by the genin more easily, you'd also forgotten the last symbol of the seal for a moment before completing the first scroll. At a more crucial moment, it could've proved fatal to a comrade or civilian. Then there was the matter of your little trip to the hospital after letting that terracotta mystery visitor nearly get the best of you. 

"Your prowess is only to be respected and admired, Miss _______!" 

An agreeing hum from Lee and a little passive-aggressive huff from Neji brought a small smile to your lips. Before you could even open your mouth to get a word out, Gai plowed on,

"Of course I wouldn't presume to think you couldn't have handled the situation by yourself! I just had to send word to my team to come and assist you, and rush here myself to see the mission resolved. It's just that..." You looked over and were surprised to see that a small blush had overcome Gai's face. He refused to meet your eyes and at the suddenly shy action, you chuckled pleasantly. 

Your entourage decided to stop for a quick break, as the young civilian man had gotten slightly fatigued, especially after evading the lantern for the few minutes before you'd arrived. It was with great carefulness that you and Tenten set the older man's cloth stretcher down on a soft bed of grass. Gai, who'd been keeping close, let the log with the sealed lantern thud to the ground before sitting upon it. 

"I can't bear the thought of you being hurt, Miss _______." He murmured under his breath, and your heart warmed. 

"You can't possibly hope to follow me on every mission, senpai." You chided gently, smiling, and couldn't help yourself as you reached out and plucked a twig with a tiny leaf from his otherwise neat and shiny hair. "But..."

As you pulled the twig from the perfectly combed locks, you let the soft face of the leaf caress his cheekbone, and then jaw as you withdrew it to drop it on the forest floor. At the subtle display of affection, you could see your senpai's slight blush deepen, and felt that warm sensation in your chest again. 

"As always," You confessed, smiling yet again— you'd been doing that a lot lately, especially around the green-clad, bowl-cut shinobi— "the sentiment is greatly appreciated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I couldn't just ignore this mission after how the last chapter ended, and while it was filler-ish, I still managed to squeeze Gai and his team into the chapter. I was thinking of including a scandalous dream/memory sequence in this chapter, but I'll save that for a later chapter. It just didn't fit as I thought it should. But that means that the next chapter is already being written! Yay! BTW the endings to my chapters seem to always be head-scratchers for me. I'm trying to keep our character in, well, character, while at the same time opening up a bit to the idea of simple affection. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos, and for the wonderful support. Hope you're all having a good summer, and I'll see you next time. :D  
> .  
> .
> 
> NEXT TIME: My Sincere Pleasure


	7. My Sincere Pleasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying overnight at a motel provides a relaxing onsen, as well as one surprise after the next– some more pleasant than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gomen! It's been a while! I'm so sorry for the wait! It might seem like I was neglecting this story for my others, but I really didn't see it that way. I struggled for a long time with the plot of this chapter, but had the first half written since...May? Then I come back to this one and realize it's been like _six months_ since I've updated like omg I need to get my shit together. I missed this story. Terribly sorry. 
> 
> Short chapter ahead! I had quite a bit of trouble writing it, but I kinda like this chapter. :) I think you will too. Until next time (which shouldn't be that long, comparably) I hope everyone's having a good November! Stay safe! Mwah!

"Haaah...I needed that." 

The motel's lavish onsen had been wonderful on your muscles, leaving you almost dangerously relaxed and ready for bed. As you emerged from the steaming water, feeling waterlogged, you drew a towel around yourself and leant for a moment against one of the walls near the door. 

Kurenai had met up with you earlier, but she had long retired to your shared double-bedroom. As it happened, you two had both been on the way home; yourself from the Land of Earth and Kurenai from a rugged, barren religion of Wind Country. For once, she was without her team, having been sent out on a solo mission to make use of her excellent skills in genjutsu. 

Yuuhi Kurenai had never been a close friend, but you felt comfortable calling her a friendly acquaintance. You didn't find her nearly as annoying as say, Anko, or as submissive as Shizune-sensei had been when she was in the village. Truthfully, there weren't many kunoichi in your generation, even taking into account those who had died or gave up on the shinobi way of life. Even _less_ were the ones you got along with. In this way, you were very thankful for Yuuhi Kurenai. 

Staring up at the gaps between the boards of the roof which allowed the steam to slowly seep out into the night air, you caught sight of the stars above. You didn't know how long it had been since you entered the onsen– only that you had taken your sweet and painstaking time cleaning yourself after a particularly dirty mission in the outskirts of the Hidden Stone. Then you'd had a long soak, because although you hadn't sustained so much as a scratch on the mission, it had left you fatigued and mentally exhausted. 

Shaking a bit of damp hair out of your eyes, you moved for the entrance to the onsen and stepped out into the much cooler changing room. 

At the same time, you began to hear someone making their way down the hall towards the onsen's entrance. Taking your clothing from one of the little storage cupboards, you thought nothing of the approaching footsteps. You were sure Kurenai had gone to bed already, and the motel was practically empty apart from you two and the old lady manager at the front desk. It was probably a housekeeper. Nonplussed, you busied yourself pulling out your belongings. 

"Hm?" You glanced curiously at the sound of someone choking— and were severely taken aback to see a half-naked man standing just inside the entrance to the bathhouse. You bolted upright so quickly it almost gave you an upper back cramp. 

Even more surprised were you to see a dirty green jumpsuit dangling around sculpted hips, and- 

"Hhah??" You squeaked a soft, surprised sound and turned around so that you faced him— Maito Gai, who was looking at you with his face as red as a habanero pepper and his jaw somewhere around his perfectly defined abs. 

He appeared to be trying to say something, but the only thing coming out was an unintelligible garble of a noise. Not that the older shinobi had much time to form a complete thought before you spoke again. 

"What- what are-" You stammered, and then yelped as your clothes fell from your hands at the same time your towel slipped. Using every ounce of your wits and shinobi quickness, you snatched for the soft fabrics.

"Gai!! Get out!!!" You cried, face flaming. Clutching the towel to your front before it could completely leave you, you backed up against the cupboards– pulsing with some foreign jitteriness and embarrassment. "Don't look at me!! Get out!!" 

Complying immediately, and slipping on the polished wood floor on his haste to leave the room, Gai hit the floorboards of the hallway. A moment later, he'd apparently gotten up, and you heard him scrambling to get out, yelling heated apologies at the top of his lungs. 

You stood there for a moment more, letting out a flustered sound as you heard the door of the building slam shut. 

Your towel drooped and you signed heatedly, pulling it more firmly around you as you rushed to get dressed, not caring that your clothes were becoming a bit damp in your haste. In all actuality, the entire ordeal had taken maybe fifteen seconds, if that, but felt like an eternity. Looking toward the entrance to the room, you found a small river of water leaking into the room from the hall, and wondered if Gai had done more than slip on the way out. 

"Gai-senpai?" You asked quietly, sheepishly, a minute later. Poking your head out of the bathhouse, you looked around and found an empty stone path up to the motel. You sighed again, a bit disappointed at your own behavior, as you started up the path. 

Usually, you were as collected as ever in the face of general nudity, yours included. You've never been shy about your body, had never been ashamed of any of your scars or imperfections. 

It was just...him. However much you didn't want to, you were beginning to resign yourself to that fact. 

"_______!" Gai converged on you upon your entry to the hotel, and you smiled, a bit uncomfortably as he stepped forward, now fully dressed and pale-faced. 

"Gai-senpai." You greeted, but all discomfort and forced smiles dropped from your face to be replaced by surprise as he first knelt, then bent so that his palms and head were touching the floor near your bare feet. 

"I'm so sorry." Gai continued bowing, though you could see the tips of his ears start to turn red. You chuckled a little, kneeling down next to him. "My sincere apologies, Miss _______!"

"Not at all, Gai-senpai." You smiled, wanting to touch him in some way to reassure him, but also keeping in mind that he'd just been on his way to the baths. That is, well...he was covered in grime from head to toe. "I should be the one apologizing, I overreacted. I must be tired...it wasn't like me."

"I had no idea you were staying at this hotel, or even that you were in the area." Gai insisted, crawling forward as you maneuvered yourself to move backward slightly, just out of reach. 

"I–I believe you, Gai-senpai." You smiled placatingly, holding up your hands as he crawled even further forward. With little else to do, you then waved your hands awkwardly in a 'what can you do?' manner. "No harm done, alright? Really, I must apologize. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"...You're sure?" 

"Yes." You nodded brightly, and stood up. "Now get up, senpai. Don't bow anymore, people are staring." 

Indeed, an elderly couple in the corner of the room had been blatantly staring in your direction since you'd walked in, and the hotel employee at the counter was eyeing you both over the top of his magazine. 

"Right." Gai nodded, standing up, and you frowned as you seen him wince slightly, grabbing at his shoulder. "Sorry." 

"Are you hurt?" You asked, tilting your head to the side, barely managing to keep most of the concern from your face. After all the commotion, you burned to regain some sort of control over yourself. 

"Not from my mission. Just from a minute ago when I slipped on that wretched floor." Gai groaned as he straightened up, and quickly removed his hand from his shoulder at your concerned gaze. You may have schooled your features into a blank slate, but the emotion in your eyes was harder to hide, it seemed. Gai smiled gently. "I'll be fine, it's nothing to fuss over...but I do need a bath rather desperately, dare I say." 

You hesitated only a moment before chuckling and allowing a smile to grace your lips. How long had you known Gai? _Really_ known him, instead of knowing only _of_ him? Just over a year? Indeed, it was still taking a while for you to get comfortable with the idea of seeing him as a true friend rather than a simple aquaintance or comrade. However...you couldn't deny that _it was_ happening.

"Well, your not wrong." You chuckled, and watched as Gai crossed his arms and pouted in a very childish manner that you somehow found endearing. 

Friends. Though you could count many of your fellow shinobi as friends, the prospect of a new one, and a close one at that seemed as foreign as Earth Country, but much more...appealing. You supposed, by now, you'd no need to hide anything from a friend (not something as insignificant as a smile or look of concern, anyway). It was then that you decided to be more open with the suddenly sheepish man in front of you. 

"I'm gonna head back to my room, okay?" You smiled, still feeling warm around the collar. For a reason unknown, there was a certain lightness in your stomach that made you feel sick and absolutely lit you up like a lantern all at once. It was an odd way you feel, and made you wonder briefly if you should be worried. "Are you going to be headed out in the morning?" 

"I was thinking of doing a few laps around this village at the break of dawn." Gai nodded, one hand (slightly blackened with soot) held to his chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Then heading out around seven-thirty for the Leaf." 

"Oh, that's a shame." You pretended to sign morosely. 

"What's? Why-why would it be a shame?" Gai asked hurriedly as you began to walk down the hall to you and Kurenai's shared bedroom. 

"Kurenai and I were planning to have breakfast tomorrow morning." You smiled over your shoulder, over the borrowed towel you'd slung across it. "It would be great if you could join us." 

" _Kurenai?_ " Gai asked incredulously, then shook himself and nodded, looking to the side. "Well...I...then I will see you in the morning, Miss _______!" 

"...Goodnight." You nodded, smiling as you continued down the hall, turning a corner and looking for your room. 

Once locating it with your key card and stepping inside, you placed your hand over the seal Kurenai had half-stuck on the door. Placing it all the way flat against the door, completing the lock, you turned to survey your motel room quietly. 

Modern-ish, but quite traditional as well. More like a _ryokan_ than an actual twenty-first century motel. Twin futons, white, clean and pressed, lie centered in the small room, no more than a meter apart. Kurenai, a newly appointed joinin, probably would have woken upon your arrival, but you knew even before she'd excused herself to your rooms that she had been dead-tired, and in need of rest. Performing genjutsu would do that to you– especially at the level on which Kurenai could perform. 

You let her sleep, placing your wet towel over a hanger in the small wardrobe near the washroom. The textured cloth was small, white, and rather rough compared to your usual towels at home. 

Your mission had been scheduled to last five days; however, you'd finished on the third day, and were able to take it easy on the way home. Kurenai's mission had been far more compressed, as she had to report back almost immediately to the Leaf after completing the previous one, which she'd done that night. 

Wait! That's right! Maybe Kurenai _wouldn't_ be able to stop and chat on the way out in the morning. She'd made plans with you for an early breakfast, but who knows how long she'd be able to stay before heading out? She was in a hurry. 

Damn, you thought as you gathered your things and headed into the small washroom to brush your teeth and comb your hair. While you were at it, you also set about cleaning your shoes for the morning. Snatching a bottle of hard liquor you'd requested from the motel staff earlier, you closed the door of the bathroom quietly and began filling the sink with water. 

Pulling out a small tube of soap from your trim toiletries bag, you took a washcloth provided by the motel and began scrubbing at the rough yet smooth outer material of your shinobi sandals. You'd borrowed a steel letter opener from the front desk upon arrival solely to clean the outsoles of your shoes, to dislodge any mud or rocks from in between the simple grip imprints on the bottom. Once done with the outside, and thoroughly scrubbing inside as well, you rinsed once more and gave the sandals a light scrub and douse of alcohol to help disinfect and remove any clinging scents or stains. Flinching, you noted a single, shallow cut near your thumb, stinging strongly as it came in contact with the alcohol you'd been using. 

Now finished, and leaving your sandals under the sink on a towel to air-dry, you thoroughly cleaned the sink and counter as well, before washing your hands and beginning to comb out your hair. Tying it back to prevent knotting during the night, you brushed your teeth and left the small room, turning off the light before you made for your futon. 

On the way though, you spotted another set of muddy, rather sandy-looking pair of shinobi sandals, and made a quick trip back to the washroom, picking up the sharp letter opener once more. 

The next morning proved to be bright and orange, with the sun shining strongly through the trees surrounding the motel. The air was warm, and the breeze carried the scents of foliage, fresh water, and just a bit of chimney smoke form the nearby town. Kurenai had woken around six that morning, and had gently shaken you awake, asking if you still wanted to get breakfast, or if you wanted to sleep in. 

Glad that she'd thought to wake you, you'd just nodded with a thanks and began readying yourself for the day, packing your scarce belongings into your slim mission-knapsack. Freshening up, with you up your jounin vest, you two left the room looking almost as untouched as it was when you'd first arrived. 

"Mmm, I love little motels. They always have the most interesting foods." You hummed as you placed a piece of fried cheese curd in your mouth and chewed savoringly. 

"You can't find these in the Leaf, that's for sure." Gai gazed at the small dish of fried curds and shrugged before placing one in his mouth as well. "I may have seen these only once, at the Rinne Festival back home." 

"Compared to the trips we just made to our respective countries, home seems like just a step to the left." Kurenai commented lowly from beside you, and you nodded once on agreement, taking an egg from the table and cracking it over your gently steaming bowl of rice. Adding a bit of soy sauce, tomatoes and chopped onion to your _tomago kake gohan_ you began stirring vigorously with your chopsticks. 

"Are those personal chopsticks?" Gai asked suddenly, following the movement of said utensils in interest as you stopped stirring and took a gooey bite of your tomago gohan with some _tsukemono_.

"Yeah." You answered behind a hand; you didn't like talking with your mouth full. "I've been poisoned twice from eating with disposable chopsticks, so a few years ago I just started bringing my own on missions." 

"That's terrible!" 

"Mm." Kurenai hummed, nodding in agreement as she too took a bite of the pickled things from her tray. She'd already heard the story; as churnin, you'd both been on the same mission when you'd been poisoned the first time. 

"It's not a big deal, I was just tired of it, and didn't want it to happen again." You shrugged, eating another fried curd. "It's just a habit by now. I doubt I would've gotten sick by eating from the chopsticks here." 

"I should be headed out soon." Kurenai spoke as she finished with her small meal. She finished sipping the last of her miso soup from its small bowl on her tray. She'd gotten a bit of an early start ahead of you as you made to collect Gai from his room earlier that morning, and she'd gone a lot simpler with her breakfast than you two had. "I don't mean to rush you two. I'll go on ahead to the Leaf; I need to be in the land of Bears by this time tomorrow." 

"You're team is going to raise hell this week, aren't they?" You chuckled, and asking seriously. "Did you get enough rest last night? You sure you'll be alright by yourself?" 

"Of course." Kurenai smiled prettily. "I just don't want you two to rush you is all. We'll have to catch up over cheese curds another time." She adressed the both of you with that last statement, and bid you both farewell as she exited the outdoor deck where you three were having breakfast. 

"I'm glad it isn't wet and rainy today. Then my newly cleaned sandals might have gotten dirty." The kunoichi said just before she stepped from the deck. She looked back at you and smiled gratefully, red eye sparkling. "Thanks again, _______. Goodbye you two!"

"Godspeed, Kurenai! Take care!" Gai bid her an enthusiastic farewell, holding up a hand in parting. You smiled and waved as both you and Gai seen your fellow jounin off; watching her disappear in a blur of red, black and white. 

"Um, _______?" Gai asked suddenly, and you diverted your attention once more to the man across from you. "Why did you never take on a genin team? If I may ask?" 

"Well...I've never really thought about it." You took another bite of your breakfast, chewing in thought, and then finally shrugged. "I can't say for sure, to be honest. It's never seemed like something... _I could do_ , you know?"

"Is that right?" Gai asked curiously, and smiled gently, raising a cup of warm tea to his lips. "Pardon me, Miss _______, but that's nonsense. You're already an extraordinary shinobi...and with some time, I know you would be a splendid teacher as well." The shinobi chuckled. "The kids already love you. Just look at what an impression you've made on my Lee, and Tenten...Neji will come around, I'm sure of it." 

"Hm..." You nodded a bit, not in agreement but in acknowledgement; tilting your head to the side as you rested it on an open palm, elbow set on the table. "You think so?" 

"Absolutely. That isn't even to mention Kakashi's team. Naturo adores you– you're great with children, even without trying." A light flush had creeped across Gai's suddenly dreamy expression, and you looked away; with no other excuse than that the light was shining in your eyes too brightly. 

_'The light from the sun, or the light from his eyes?'_ Some part of your mind asked slyly, and you grimaced lightly to keep yourself from blushing as well. Dammit..what was wrong with you? 

You were...just unused to having such enthusiastic company, is all. The right company _could_ cause a pleasant feeling to nestle in your chest, couldn't it? You felt it all the time around Kakashi...or even Asuma when either of you ran into each other to talk. You'd felt it last night visiting in the onsen with Kurenai and just a bit ago, before she'd left. You were sure that's what it was. 

"I work with Umino Iruka sometimes at the shinobi academy. I promised to help him out with a class field trip when I got home, actually." You eventually murmured in response, still leaning on your eyebrow, not noticing at this point how you were actively avoiding eye contact. This particular topic was one thing (one of the only things) you were somewhat insecure about. "And I...don't mind filling in for Kakashi and watching his kids when he isn't around." 

(Or Ebisu's, on one very rare occasion, but you ought it best not to talk about him, after the last incident with those two.) 

As you admitted this, you thought back to every time you had been called 'teacher' by a small child in the academy. Even though you knew you were technically able to be called 'sensei' by simple rank and age, it still made your heart fill with warmth and joy the first couple times it had happened. '_______ _-sensei!'._

"_______?" Gai asked, jarring you gently from your wandering thoughts. Meanwhile, he was reaching into one of his best pockets, searching for something. "What are you thinking about?" 

"Uh...nothing." You smiled, shaking your head. "When were you thinking of doing your laps around the village? I could be convinced into-" 

You halted in your speech, blinking confusedly as your hand was taken into a much larger one. You simply sat there, on the firm padding of one of the motel's floor-chairs as the cut under your thumb was covered in a small bandaid. The warm hands let your go, and you realized you'd been staring dully at the bandage. Slowly, you pulled your hand back and looked back up at Gai, who was grinning largely, nearly blinding you in its sparkling wake. 

"Tenten gave me bandaids a while back." Gai said, to your surprise sounding rather sheepish. "She was scolding me about not taking better care of my scrapes and bruises...as jounin, we tend not to pay much attention to things like that, but she said " _Gai-sensei! You'll never know how valuable a simple bandage could be until you need one!'_ " His voice had taken on a lighter tone in parody of Tenten's voice as he relayed the lecture. "What can I say? She was right."

You seen him gazing at the bandaid over your injury, and found yourself running a thumb over it in thought. 

"Thank you, Gai-senpai." You answered, bringing your hands below the table, and considering many things. Tenten _had_ been right, hadn't she? You were sure the cut would bother you less now that there was a protective barrier over it. You were also sure some kind of inner dam holding back a fluttery, hot chakra had just burst, because that's how your insides felt, and...abruptly you remembered how you'd felt in the Leaf forest just before you'd been attacked by the terracotta intruder. It was then you'd told yourself that you'd make more of an effort to keep the friends you had, right? Like many other facets of your life that didn't involve life or death, you seemed to have forgotten that promise rather quickly. 

"Gai-senpai?" You asked, looking up and shrinking in on yourself a little as you realized that his gaze was still evidently set on you. This time, it was his chin that rested against a warm, open palm. You knew his hands were warm, because those hands had just held one of your own.

"Yes, _______?" Gai asked, sitting up suddenly, as though realizing the position he'd been in; tensed shoulders, a smile on his face, eyes dazed and all. Whatever that had meant was lost to you. you supposed it was just an off morning for him? Maybe prolonging his morning jog had upset an inner rhythm of his. "Is this about my morning run? I can always put it off, until later."" 

"No." You shook your head, steeling yourself. For some reason, this wasn't like any of those times you and Kakashi had made plans together. It was undoubtably more...delicate than that. "Um...it's just...when we get back to the village...I..."

Well...this was you trying to put in that effort. 

"Would you..." You struggled to get the words out. Why had you begun talking when you weren't sure what you'd wanted to ask? "Would you consider...seeing a...theatre play...with me, next week?" 

Gai's eyes had gone wide, a largely surprised look on his normally passionate/cheerful face and internally, you wanted to smack, kick and scold yourself. His next bite of tsukemono with rice dropped from his chopsticks back into the bowl. 

"It's alright if you can't." You went on a bit meekly, shoulders hunched, finding the whole thing just as awkward as you'd dreaded. "I'd understand...if you didn't want to...or, you might be busy–" 

"No!" Gai shouted, startling you enough to make you jump, almost hurting your back how quickly you'd bolted upright. "No, _______! Of course! There's nothing I'd love more than to join you in a social outing! I–" Gai coughed, covering his mouth and seeming to be surprised at himself, face rather red.

" _Really_??" You asked, surprised and pleased to see such a positive response. You smiled, not holding anything back but facing downward, toward your hands on your lap– not really having the fortitude to meet those excited eyes face-to-face. "That's great. I look forward to it!" 

"So, _______?" Gai asked somewhat eagerly, leaning forward a bit onto the table, making you look up at him with a bright, pleased expression. "What were you thinking of seeing?" 

"Well, I don't actually know yet. Kakashi and I were just planning to get the schedule a bit ahead of time, and pick whichever–" You blinked, concerned as Gai had just face planted hard into the table, rattling everything on it. "Gai-senpai? What's wrong?" 

" _Even when he's not here, he's winning._ " Gai grated through gritted teeth, banging his head once more on the well-polished table before sitting up and rubbing at the red mark on his forehead, laughing too loudly to be natural. Across the table, you simply stared at him, doe-eyed and confused. 

"It would be...my sincere pleasure..." Gai forced with a grin, a hand still held to his head. "To accompany... _Kakashi and yourself_ to _any_ play of your choosing...Miss _______."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Ryokan–_ Traditional Japanese inn (think old school Japan rather than western style lodging)
> 
> _Tomago kake gohan_ – eggs over rice (or just _tomago gohan_ "egg rice") is essentially egg sauce over steamed rice, made by cracking a raw egg over hot rice and stirring; eaten with soy sauce and toppings to taste. 
> 
> _Tsukemono_ – literally "pickled things" (i.e pickled radish, eggplant, cabbage, cucumber, usually eaten with rice)
> 
> Uuuuggghhh Ao3 is having a serious mental breakdown or something, am I the only one noticing?? As always, don't be afraid to call me out on my shit or point out errors, mistakes, etc. I'd like a word with all of you too, really! ;D  
> .  
> .
> 
> NEXT TIME: I've Always Loved the Theatre!


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